Lead Ting Ting Katie White is more pop star than artist — something she proved Wednesday at the Bluebird Theater. Photos by .
Just like their debut record, 2008’s “We Started Nothing,” show at the last Wednesday was thin, underwhelming, overblown and oftentimes obnoxious.
Did I mention the concert was also sold out? Yes, the infectious indie-electro band from the U.K. had no problem selling out the theater well in advance of the show. But they did so on the strength of a couple singles that are so basic they’re dumb.
I have nothing wrong with pop music. In two recent interviews – with Lily Allen and Bob Hardy (of Franz Ferdinand) – I’ve geeked out with them about our shared affinity for Britney Spears’ new record. Seriously. (Both Allen and Franz Ferdinand have covered “Womanizer” in the last few months.) That said, Spears knows what she is. She’s a pop star, not an artist. And while the Ting Tings are minor-league pop stars, itap obvious they also think of themselves as artists.
But after Wednesday’s clumsy outing, itap difficult to see the artistry in their craft.
The drums-and-guitar duo, playing against a heavy backing track of percussion, started the evening with their strongest song, “Great DJ.” This song positions them as a modern-day Blondie as it employs dynamic, percussive vocals and flirty, familiar pop riffs. But by starting out with their best track in their catalog, there was nowhere to go but down – especially since they saved their other recognizable tracks, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and “Thatap Not My Name,” for the show’s closing.
What filled the space between the high opening notes and the anticlimactic closing tracks? Similar to the filler on “We Started Nothing,” the other songs on Wednesday night were inane pabulum. There was little that was memorable about the songs, even from a trash-pop perspective. Even the dance-happy crowd fell into a mid-show slump – not that thatap unusual for a buzz band with a single record under their belt.
By the time “Thatap Not My Name” rolled around, not even singer Katie White – who was dramatically beating a freestanding bass drum – could rile the crowd back to life. They were psyched to hear the song, sure. But the dreck they sat through on the way there hardly made it worth it.
Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post. He is also the executive director of the , Colorado’s premier festival of local music. Follow his whimsies at , his live music habit at and his iTunes addictions at .
Julio Enriquez is a Denver writer and photographer, editor of the blog and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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