The Ting Tings at Metro 4/5

I got to sneak out Sunday night in the middle of our latest rain/snow/sleet/who knows what else storm to head to the Metro to see the Ting Tings. Long time loyal readers will remember that they performed at Lollapalooza last August, and put on a starmaking set that was hard to match. I'm proud of both of you for remembering that.

The Ting Tings are simply a girl/guy duo from England who put out their debut last year, and thanks to a heavilly played iPod commercial, quickly rode a wave of buzz. They opened the main stage of Lollapalooza in the 12:30 pm slot, where several hundred Rage Against the Machine fans were already camped out save their spots for their idol's set, which wouldn't be happening for another 8 hours.

Keep in mind that the majority of RATM fans are not the most open minded of people, as evidenced by the near riot that broke out during the set that night. But due to the energetic performance and catchy pop-punk of the band, the was somehow swayed, clapping and dancing to the Ting Tings' music.

After a few months of support for their debut, the Ting Tings returned to Chicago to the packed Metro. They brought the band Hottub with them as their openers. At first I was dreading the worst, since first two hairy dudes came out and started laying down some beats, and were quickly followed by three women who then began to rap. At first it seemed like an odd pairing to have the two bands together, but it became apparent why they made the choice.

Hottub ended up putting on a fun, highly energetic set that more than made up for substance with energy and enjoyment. The three women ran all over the stage, jumped into the crowd on several occasions, and two of the members spent a good chunk of time in the crowd. I really couldn't tell you what any of the songs were about, but it really didn't matter, since they band had such a good time playing, and the crowd followed suit as well.

After a pretty short set-up time, the Ting Tings followed up and nearly matched Hottub's energy level. Lead singer/guitarist/super hottie Katie White was of course the center of attention, running around the stage in a tiny black dress and knocking out the band's two chord melodies, or banging on an extra bass drum, whatever what was needed at the time. (Sadly, they weren't allowing flash photos during the set, since Katie would probably be blinded by 100 cameras going off at her during the show)

The only unfortunate thing about the Ting Tings' set was that it was nearly identical to their set at Lollapalooza. They only played songs from their debut, and not one single new song was played otherwise. I was hoping by now they'd have a few songs ready to go, but it didn't appear that this was the case.

They again closed a very extended version of "That's Not My Name," with the crowd eating up every second of it. After barely an hour, the band was done and gone. They proved they're definitely a band to watch, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here, when they can probably write a song with more than two chords in it.