+Patrick Wolf, live at the Electric Ballroom, Camden+ It’s been a long time coming, but 25 year old Patrick Wolf has a new album out in shops as of yesterday. To mark the occasion, he’s been touring. I caught up with him on the last show of his tour at Camden’s infamous Electric Ballroom last night. Entering the stage in some terrifying glam rock frock we got straight down to business with a selection of songs from the new album. Although it’s a smallish venue, he’s quite a showman, giving us a spectacle that’d be worthy of a stadium. Musically, he’s awfully talented. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man singing whilst playing viola at the same time. If you’ve not heard his music, I’d recommend it, the new album’s marvellous and I can recommend the previous couple as well. The Batchelor — the title track from the new album — was played complete with eerie disembodied Tilda Swinton voice courtesy of the small man at the back bashing out electric bleeps on a macbook. The bassist switched from electric to double and back again, which added to the backing violinist and Wolf’s viola created a strange but beautiful strings trio at points. Part punk, part baroque, part Ziggy Stardust, Mr Wolf seems unwilling to stay in the one pigeon hole. The audience was an immense mix of mosh, shiny trousers, terrifying beary gays and goths all bouncing along to a soundtrack that is all these things and none of them. Truly an interesting mix and very much an amazing gig. “I’m on the radio in literally 2 minutes, but I promised I’d leave you, Camden, with an amazing tune”, he announced, after finishing the final encore track. And then he punches the demo button on the keyboard in front of him and skips off stage as we’re left with some beepy funk born in the imagination of a synthesiser salesman in the late 80s. Rah! Wish I’d brought a camera...