The Ting Tings start something in Chicago, but stop way too soon

April 5, 2009, at the Metro

By Selena Fragassi
Published: April 8th, 2009 | 5:40pm

“Tonight, we have one request of you,” said the Ting Tings’ singer Katie White as she and drummer Jules De Martino used their royalty status as the latest British invasion to conquer a Chicago crowd into submitting to their wishes. “And it’s that you fucking dance!”

The sweaty dance party went at full steam from start to finish in a choreographed set that ended on a high note, if not too soon. The Manchester duo worked with what they had, extending their 50-minute set to include every song from their debut, 2008’s We Started Nothing (Columbia). Most notable were the overplayed hits “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and “Great DJ,” whose lyrics perfectly captured the night: “Imagine all the girls and the boys… and the strings… and the drums.”

Although comprised of just two members, White and De Martino proved masters of multitasking in instrumentation and rousing performance, as they overworked their techs who passed off an assembly line of guitars and moved on to the call of drums and keyboards.

White, never one to be fashionably unprepared, rocked a cacophonous melting pot of a black top, short pink shirt, and crocheted tights with a trio of accessories including a flashy hat, electric blue belt, and Michael Jackson cut-out gloves, all of which further emphasized the band’s ’80s new wave revival. But what moved them beyond moonlighting as a Culture Club knockoff were the tribal-infused rhythms of De Martino, who could have well suffered from a case of whiplash after moving from snare to cymbal and back without missing a beat. Dressed simply in a T-shirt and jeans, his trademark sunglasses may just have been a way to protect his peripheral vision.

White was nothing if not dynamic, not shy about moving to every crevice of the stage and using her high-pitch squeal on songs like “Fruit Machine” to perk the ears and eyes of the audience to directly focus on her. Although her style is not as much singing, as she speaks and chants her lyrics, there was a glimmer of vocal risk-taking on “Traffic Light,” although the song itself sounds like a bad kids’ sing-a-long and makes you wonder why they interrupt such an energetic set with the self-proclaimed “slow song”.

In a night that was entertaining, if not predictable, the Ting Tings proved that they are the epitome of a singles band capitalizing on the inherent longevity of an album that is entirety hit-worthy, but tried to push it a bit further with new arrangements and extended instrumental farewells, especially on the title track. In the end, White and DeMartino did not live up to their previous Chicago performance at 2008’s Lollapalooza, where the greater, outdoor space worked in their favor.

By the end of the first set, “That’s Not My Name” played itself out among an un-satiated crowd that clapped the rhythm as a call for the band to return. And they did, first playing the hard-to-say “Impacilla Carpisung” before ending with the reggae-flavored “Name,” one of White’s best moments, which proved that it doesn’t matter what you call her, she’s still a riot.

For more photos from this set visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page
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Ting Tings feature