Ting Tings

Rec Center Studio - March 11, 2008

Live Review by Amber Henson

Close your eyes.  Or, wait, don’t, that won’t work.  Okay, get a friend to read this review to you.  Or not.  Let’s just start over.

Imagine the White Stripes.  Now switch Meg and Jack.  Now turn give Jack light brown hair and twenty pounds (God knows he needs it).  Put some regular clothes on him.  Be impressed by his drumming skills.  As for Meg, lose two sizes of boobs, give her blonde hair, and a voice that sounds the same live as it does on the album: amazing.  Lastly, give them both the British accents you know the White Stripes wished they had and there you go: The Ting Tings.

They’re new, they’re hot, it’s time to go to their MySpace page, listen to “That’s Not My Name” and get totally hooked.  It’s time to curse yourself that you missed their initial US run because by the time they come back, they’ll be too big to be cool.  It’s time to find singer/guitarist Katie White totally hot.

They only played seven songs at a venue that’s used more often as a photo studio than a concert hall, simply because they only have about seven songs.  White and drummer/sometimes singer/sometimes guitarist Jules De Martino have an amazing stage presence.  De Martino is an impressive drummer, so much so that I’ll let him get away with singing while drumming (a pet peeve of mine, along with touching my backpack while I’m wearing it.  Don’t do it.  You’ll be sorry.).

They started out the set with "Great DJ", the name of their recently released EP.  Later in the set, as they played one song that my friend pointed out to me was similar to Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out”, White put down her microphone and guitar so she could beat the crap out of large marching band drum.  They finished up their set with “That’s Not My Name”, which has a chorus where ‘name’ is repeated a few times, except she drops the n, so it’s like an echo.  When this part came up, White held the microphone out to us, for us to sing that part, which I think surprised all of us. The crowd seemed pretty savvy, and I know I don’t expect that kind of thing from a band that only arrived on the continent a month ago or so.

Overall, a great night, a great band, and great bangs.