The Ting Tings, Mercury Lounge, NYC, 3/18/08.
7pm is not a very rock’n'roll time in NYC for a band to play. People are either still in their offices, slaving away at the grindstone and hating life just before their daily commute home. You will have a really hard time convincing the Ting Tings of this. I rolled up to the Mercury Lounge at 7pm expecting to stroll right in, figuring that anyone who was there for the show was already inside, but there was a line half way down the block of hip looking adults who looked like they bailed out of work early to check out the next big thing out of the UK this week.
The Ting Tings pick up where Le Tigre left off and fall into the same female fronted discopunked world of CSS and New Young Pony Club. Man, the women are ruling the dance floors right now with those bands!
So, by the time I managed to get into the venue, the band had already been on for a song or two and I was stuck in the very fucking back. Typically for these shows I can snake my way through the crowd and get right up front and raise my little arms up in the air pumping my dumb fist, but not last night… no, last night it was ultra saturated. No where to go. So I stood on my tip toes and raised my arm in the air from the back, only this time in my fist was my little video camera (thank you Aaron at FilpVideo for the camera!) capturing the show for those of you who couldn’t be there — or like me, were too short.
The set was only about 20 minutes long and included the fucking awesome “That’s Not My Name.” If I didnt know better, I would’ve thought a full band was on stage and Elastica had reunited and my dreams had finally come true. But alas, it was a duo Jules De Martino and Katie White, banging on, sounding fucking awesome.
Check out these two videos for “That’s Not My Name” (my camera kept running out of juice, sorry):
video 1:
video 2:
Their songs are almost so painfully simple that you could sit there thinking “shit, i could write these songs!” But that’s their charm, I guess. The simplicity of the songs make them almost instantly recognizable and totally fun. I was trying my best to dance around, but it was hard to move and I didn’t want to knock anyone out with my dumb dance moves, so I kept my shimmy to a sham.
Definitely go check out this band asap. They’re so hot right now and might only be hot for a half-second, but Godbless that period of time.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
This is hilarious, because I came to the site to tell you that you should check them out tonight at Union Hall. And yet, apparently, you already saw them last night.
They’re ridiculously good, in a better-energy-than-the-recorded-music way, which is haard to find. Cheers to that.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Oh, they’re also going to be at Le Royale on Friday, doors open at 9pm. The guy at the venue says it’s supposed to be fill early, but if you want to see them up close, it’s totally worth it.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I wish i could go to the friday show, but i’m going to NJ for Shabbat dinner w/the fam!
March 21st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
i saw them at sxsw & really enjoyed “that’s not my name.” but i had noooo idea i was seeing the “next big thing” by any means. really fun and poppy and enjoyable, totally, but i’m not getting this line around the block at 7pm stuff!! i’m on tonights list & dont think im gonna bother dealing with the crowds since i already saw them… and i totally agree with you that they’ll be the big thing for about half a second & the end.