The Rapture & Metronomy @ Voyeur.

Text and images by Kirsten Stamn.

I’m crushed against the barricade in front of the stage at Voyeur, ribs pressed uncomfortably against the metal bars as the crowd impatiently bops along to the house music.

Metronomy (right) has just finished playing and the sweat is still dripping off people’s faces, their eyes bright with the insane high one gets from dancing like a maniac nonstop for an entire set.

After wordlessly rocking out in their skinny pegged trousers and bizarre lighted globes, the England-based electronic group has gotten the entire club more than ready for The Rapture, for whom everyone is waiting for.

I hear someone say, “I’d hate to follow that act. Metronomy was so sick.”

And it’s true. They were indeed sick, playing trance-like synth beats that are both laid-back and intensely danceable at the same time. Helmed by Joseph Mount – who acts as composer, singer, keyboardist and guitarist, the band also features Anna Prior, Oscar Cash and Gbenga Adelekan. Known for their live appearances, the band didn’t disappoint with their jaunty dance routines and choreographed light shows.

But the headliner of this Friday night event, hosted by dance party experts Making Time, is The Rapture, the much-lauded comeback group who has reassembled after a much–publicized extended absence from the music world.

Crossing genres such as dance punk, acid house, electronic and rock, the band best described as indie is back with a vengeance. Comprised of Luke Jenner, Gabriel Andruzzi and Vito Roccoforte, the group who has reunited with DFA Records for their newest album, In the Grace of Your Love, filled with sexy crooning and intense synth beats.

Before they left for their European tour, The Rapture was kind enough to stop by Philadelphia where they put on hands-down one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life. It was one those shows that you have trouble recollecting the day after, remembering only the feeling of being drenched in sweat, dancing in a sea of limbs, and ecstatically screaming repeatedly, “This is amazing!”

Needless to say, take some Advil the next day for your aching feet, kids.