After almost a year of waiting, the British pop band The Ting Tings had finally made it to Denver to play a sold out show at the Bluebird Theater. I was quite eager to see the indie-electro band live and wondered if the duo would be able to make as much noise as some of their counterpart rock duos - bands like The White Stripes or Mates Of State. And luckily for me, the band's performance was everything I was hoping for and more.

The Ting Tings were happily welcomed by a lively crowd since their opening band, Hottub, already had everyone up and rockin'. First on stage playing drums, guitar, vocals, and piano was Jules De Martino, wearing his signature shades as he started to play the infectious drumbeat of a great DJ. Shortly thereafter Jules was joined on vocals, guitar, and bass drum by Katie White, who stood for most of the show behind her guitar or keyboard. Throughout the set, I was pleased to see that Jules and White were really the only members of the band and were able to play multiple instruments and not rely solely on machines to help them perform. However I was hoping that the band would perform some new material, but they stuck to their only released album, We Started Nothing, which came out in the spring of last year.

Probably the best part of the night was during their encore, when Jules came out and played an 80's dance melody, songs which I am assuming are influences on his own musical style. White came out to join him and they quickly turned to playing their two biggest hits "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and "That's Not My Name", during which White was probably at her liveliest for the night.

And even though The Ting Tings' set was considerably shorter than most headlining bands, I have to say that they definitely owned the night. They proved to me that they were not just some band that happened to have some top 40 hits and were worshiped by teenyboppers, but that they were a band that could actually play. Their music might be considered simple, but what they are doing is something that normally takes 3 more people to do. I truly enjoyed them and cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

-Melissa Skrbic-Huss

The Ting Tings with Hottub
Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
April 08, 2009

More Music Features

Talk Back
e-mail the chief

Like this article?
e-mail it to a friend!