One of the first reactions I got when I told people I was seeing The Ting Tings was: “Really!? That’s a bit lame…” But in a smoky, underground cavern right by Old Street station, the duo shone under a different light.
Support act Fickle Friend seemed a strange choice at first, occupying both a musical and an alphabetical space somewhere between The 1975 and Two Door Cinema Club, with songs that sound like both bands, but without anything too distinct that they can call their own. That doesn’t mean they’re a bad conglomerate – it does take skill to get something like that as tight as they did, and, despite a failed attempt at getting the crowd to clap along, they still got most of them to happily sway throughout.
The swaying turned to jumping once The Ting Tings aka Katie and Jules took to the stage, complete with supporting member who played loops off a vinyl set (admit it, that’s pretty cool). They decided to go for a slower opener instead of starting with one of their older, more well-known hits, which was apparently what the crowd was expecting, as an applause tinged with a sense of “oh…” echoed off the walls of XOYO.
That’s not to say these numbers didn’t make an appearance, with ‘Shut Up’ and ‘Let Me Go’ already checked off by the third song, after fading in from the new single, ‘Do It Again’. The duo were full of potential energy at the start, which should have relayed itself back at them from the crowd, but something got in the way.
A common complaint of gig-goers is that the crowds are full of 14-year-olds who don’t know how to mosh. However, this crowd seemed adverse to moshing, even during the final rally cry of ‘That’s Not My Name’. Because of this, the guys seemed to hold back (a bit), and I feel they would’ve been more mental had the crowd reacted with more energy.
My only hope is that none of the clientele were put off by The Ting Tings’ apparent effort to shed some of their fame. The room was smoky and hot, false starts happened, and nothing was loud enough. I did see a few hands clasp to ears during elongated periods of feedback, but, for me, the rawness made the whole experience better.
My only complaints are with the band seeming incapable of being able to bounce off the crowd, along with Katie having her moments of milking it a bit too much, so this goes out to all the people waiting in anticipation for the duo to come to their town: don’t expect a clean-cut pop concert, because you won’t get it. And that’s a good thing.
