Gig Report: Tina Dico

Date: Monday 3 March, 2008, 9.00pm
Venue: Academy 1
Face value: £10
Support Act: no idea
Gig buddy: Phil (he bought the tix)

In my previous post I claimed that Tina Dico was attracting a following after her Zero 7 stint. Either I was misguided in thinking this or they didn't show up to her gig. Academy 3 has to be one of the smallest places to play (barring Night and Day Café) but even so, it felt empty and it would have been if not for a few seemingly random punters - none of which knew any of the stuff she played. We were hoping for at least one Zero 7 track, or maybe a skillfull cover, but instead it was all her own work and most of it pretty standard angsty folk stuff. Close your eyes and you could be listening to any female busker in the world, strumming for a coffee on a street corner.

Not to say that the girl hasn't got vocal talent, but her strumming was ordinary and the tunes were not suited to a solo guitar - we were treated eventually to a backing track, which improved the performance to no end.

Overall: not for me. Her only saving grace was the nice Gretch she brought out.
Rating: 2 plain guitars

Tina Dico tonight!

Thankfully I have recovered from food poisoning on the weekend (meatballs people - avoid at all costs unless you are SURE they are meat) so it's off to see Tina Dico tonight. She did a couple of Zero 7 tracks, and like our very own Sia Furler who is now making a sucessful solo career, Ms Dico is gathering a following in her own right.
Check back soon for the report!

PS Noone guessed what I booked. Right - I'll give you a clue, it's a long weekend vacation. Guess where.

Gig Report: Hoosiers

Date: Thursday 28 February, 2008, 9.45pm
Venue: Academy 1
Face value: a tenner? can't remember, not much though
Support Act: The Script
Gig buddy: Phil

I can't remember why or when I bought these tickets - I suspect it was in a frenzy of ticket buying at the end of last year (remember Rock-tober!?). Knowing little about the band, this is somewhat foolish, though I was partial to the radio-popular singles 'Goodbye Mr A' and 'Worried About Ray' so I was confident that I'd be happy for at least 7 minutes of the show. Sadly we were fairly tired on Thursday and opted to miss the support act (sorry) though the crowd cheering as we entered (for them obviously, not us) tells me that they were a hit.

The set before us has a backdrop of large 60's wallpaper print and there are 3 massive lampshades over the stage area. Interesting. Stage right is a closet that opens and the band appears and take the stage. Intermittantly throughout the show, 2 guys dressed in skeleton suits emerge from and retreat to this closet who provide backing vocals. Strange. In fact, most of the band are in fancy dress and quite a few audience members as well - apparently this is a Hoosiers thing - to go in fancy dress to the gigs. All good fun, if not a bit bizarre.

What's weirdest about this act is that NME have voted them as Worst Band of the Year, which the guys make no bones about. In fact they wear it as a badge of honour, even if sarcastically. The weirdest thing about this is that they are in fact, really good. The vocals were flawless and intriguing, songs all well composed and delivered without fault. They worked the crowd really well and the fans are crazy about them. So I fail to see why they are the worst band of the year. I can think of far more worthier recipients...

Anyway, if you get the chance and have a tenner free, catch them.

Rating: 4 superheros