DIDO @ THE FINE LINE, MINNEAPOLIS, SUNDAY DECEMBER 19 I have returned triumphant from Dido's concert this evening at the Fine Line here in Minneapolis. The Fine Line is a good place to see a show, intimate, w/reasonably good acoustics. Capacity is probably around 1500-2000, and the show was sold out. (This is 2-3 times the capacity of the 400 Bar where Dido played in August, the last time she was here.) My review this time will not be as epic as the last one - I cannot stroke my ego with tales of boarding a plane for the sole purpose of attending her performance. Damn. Opening were Susan Sandberg, a local act from St. Paul, and Tara MacLean, a Canadian from Prince Edward Island. Sandberg was good but HOLY BALLS was MacLean outstanding. Tara said she's releasing a new record on Capitol in a few months. I can't vouch for the disc but she was phenomenal live. I have not heard a voice that rich in a long, long time. All the performances this evening were supposed to be acoustic, although Dido's set was the most plugged in of the bunch. The first two sets had a maximum of two guitars (with an occasional tamborine or harmonica) while Dido brought her full band minus the backing vocalist and keyboardist. There was no drum kit, so the percussionist (Alex) made the best of a bongo for the duration of the set. Even the dj (Chris) was present, so not quite my idea of acoustic. :) As a result, this concert sounded a bit more like her disc than did the last show. It was not as much of a rockout time as last, although on several songs (Hunter, most noticeably) it seemed like the band was just shy of kicking things into a higher gear (and wanting to) but trying their best to keep themselves in check. I have a mixed reaction to this, and I suggest a full-on assault next time through. Dido is still getting regular airplay from a radio station in town, and the crowd seemed to know most of the lyrics. However, the restrained nature of the set led in turn to an occasionally subdued reaction from the crowd. Dido started off by saying she had arisen this morning with a cold, and was fully doped up on a wide variety of pharmaceuticals. I didn't detect a difference in her voice (I wasn't standing in the best spot at that point) although she did cough once or twice and forget about half a verse to one song. She again played the new song "Don't Leave Home" with the participation of the full band this time. She had to stop Alex twice during the intro as he was playing what I believe was the chorus instead of the verse beat. She explained it by saying that this is just how new the song is. Dido also said that the song is about addiction, and it's her stab at tackling a subject other than love. She came out after the encore to do a meet & greet with all the fans for a solid 45 minutes. A lot of people queued up for the chance to say hello, and I got the impression that Dido made each one feel special. She simply exudes an exceeding amount of kindness. It's things like taking the time to say thanks that people remember, and makes concert attendees into devoted fans. Again (of course) a great show. I managed to steal another pic and autograph, and everybody remembered me from last time (stroke the ego, stroke the ego) which was neat-o. Sounds like she'll be back around the end of January or sometime in February so run out and buy those tix when you get the chance. There's going to be at least two more singles off this record, and with Dido tracks as theme songs for two television shows she's going to get just huge. Maybe we can get Faithless back to the states to open for Dido. I'll take those kids any way I can get it. dave -- This message was sent through the Faithless Mailing-list. To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE FAITHLESS in the body of the message.
