The only inefficient thing about the Ting Tings might be the name. Singer/guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino powered through thirteen songs at Revolution Live last night in just under an hour, not even going through the charade of leaving the stage and having the crowd chant their name for an encore. These two from Manchester, UK, with their dancy, catchy beats and angular guitars, lived up to their reputation of either being the last big Britpop band or the first successful Britpop revivalists.
Taking the stage at 9:30 p.m. after openers Kaneholler played for 45 minutes (most of which time the audience spent looking for similarities between singer Chelsea Tyler and her father Steven from Aerosmith), the Ting Tings’ White wore an aluminum mini-dress with curly blonde bangs obscuring her eyes.
She asked the Fort Lauderdale crowd: “Before we start can we have people on the dancefloor?” And then they broke into “Do It Again.”
The Ting Tings were joined on stage by a DJ who filled in the sonic spaces, so the band could sound bigger than their two members. He looped in a sample of White saying, “I ain’t freakin,’” over and over, until you realized they were playing one of their biggest hits, “Shut Up and Let Me Go.” Midway through the post-punk number they stopped for what might have been one of the night’s few missteps when I believe De Martino yelled, “Tampa, we can’t fucking hear you!” before restarting the song. For the sake of diplomatic relations and the fact that they brought out a cowbell to bang on for the closing verses, we’ll assume he didn’t confuse us for Tampa, rather his British accent and my American ear must have led to a mistranslation.
Other highlights of the night included the relaxed disco beats of “Communication” off the Ting Tings' new album “Super Critical” and the duo trading verses on “Give it Back.” The twosome's other big hit, “That’s Not My Name,” started off lackluster only to end up gangbuster. The first verse sung slowly, as White sat on the stage, pointing her microphone into the crowd, letting them do some of the work. But then it got to the bridge, when she coos, “Are you calling me darling? Are you calling me bird?” which was soon coupled by a backing track of her voice and De Martino’s pounding drums, leading the song into chaotic delirium.
But the best might have been the second-to-last cut of the set, “Hands,” which started off with the sample, “Smoke weed every day,” with that final word, “day,” echoing over and over. The song eventually settled into a combination of pop and techno and rock, and finally, The Ting Tings opening request was met, everyone on the floor was dancing.
Ting Tings’ Setlist:
-"Do It Again"
-"Shut Up and Let Me Go"
-"Hang It Up"
-"Great DJ"
-"Communication"
-"Give It Back"
-"Fruit Machine"
-"Only Love"
-"That's Not My Name"
-"Wrong Club"
-"Green Poison"
-"Hands"
-"Super Critical"