The XX at Miami Debut: "We'd Like to Make a Formal Apology For Taking Our Damn Time"

In the lull between songs, the crowd continued to roar. Someone shouted "I love you" above it, then the blue mood lighting struck everyone to attention as they went into "Night Time." Smoke came filtering through their bodies slowly off the stage, and the crowd clapped along with their hands in the air.

Pandemonium again when the jangly keys of "VCR" piped through, and even more when they followed it with "Islands." We got a special treat with "Try," a song they said they'd "never ever played live before."

"We're very excited, but we're very nervous," he said, but there was no reason to be. This was a room full of the biggest XX fans in the world, and we ate up every sad and sexy minute of it.

Photo by Alex Broadwell

"Infinity" made all the couples stand closer, the song punctuated with the subtle explosion of lights. Oliver and Romy leaned into their guitars with their whole bodies, singing along like it hurt before walking off stage, but only just for a moment.

They came back with "Intro" then moved into "Tides." They thanked the audience and the noise only got louder. They looked at each other, humbled by the massive outpouring of adoration. Then Oliver took to the microphone.

"Thank you so much Miami. We really didn't know," he said, stopped midway by the shouting. "We'd like to make a formal apology for taking our damn time in coming here. This is the best show."

"Really, a massive, massive thank you," Romy chimed in. "This is more than we ever could have expected." Then "Stars" filled the screen behind them as they played their last song of the night, milking it once again for every last crowd-pleasing drop.

When it was all said and done, the three came to the front of the stage and bowed in appreciation. You could tell they were still shocked by the insanity from the crowd, and they lingered just a while longer than usual before heading off, the house lights coming back on behind them.

They only played for about an hour, though they could have played forever and no one would have given any mind. But as we all filed out and into the street, at least we knew that, this time, the lover wanted us as much as we had wanted them.

Critic's Notebook

Personal Bias: This was like, everything my inner goth kid could have hoped it would be. And I never would have guessed the XX were so beloved by so many people, but it was really pretty much amazing.

The Crowd: Everyone in town who knows good music when they hear it, and honestly, with tickets on stubhub going for more than $200, it could have been double the amount of XX fans in there.

Setlist:
"Angels"
"Heart Skipped a Beat"
"Fiction"
"Crystalized"
"Chained"
"Reunion"
"VCR"
"Islands"
"Try"
"Infinity"

Encore
"Intro"
"Tides"
"Stars"

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