English indie pop band The Ting Tings rock-and-rolled their way through Toronto last Monday on their 2015 tour in support of their new album, Super Critical. The album is their third, preceded by 2012’s release of Sounds from Nowheresville.
Venice, California-based electro soul duo Kaneholler served as the sole opener of the night at Mod Club Theatre. Lead vocalist Chelsea Tyler took care of enticing the crowd with her surreal vocals and slinky dance moves, while Jon Foster fiddled with the drum machine with a GoPro camera strapped to his chest. They switched things up throughout their set as Foster would lend his howl, while Tyler took over on the buttons. It was exciting to watch the two dancing, jumping, and bobbing on stage in unison as they both sang and hovered over the deck.
After being thoroughly warmed up, the crowd was buzzing with excitement for The Ting Tings return to the stage in Toronto. Jules De Martino came out first and took his place by an elevated drum set with a guitar strapped onto his shoulders like a true multi-instrumentalist. Katie White drew everyone’s attention with her curly blonde hair which puffed out from the left side of her head and dazzled as she danced in her glittery copper sneakers.
The Ting Tings transitioned into “Shut Up and Let Me Go” from their debut album We Started Nothing and things started getting wild. White had an appetite for destruction and went on a stage-wide rampage, carelessly dropping her guitar into the careful waiting hands of a roadie, beating the bass drum until it fell over its stand, breaking a drumstick on a cowbell, and of course, it wouldn’t be complete without dropping a mic stand like a real rock star. White commented at one point, “This is Rob, by the way. He has a really shit job,” referring to the man on his hands and knees picking everything up.
The band played a fun set with a mix of old and new. As far as the audience was concerned, a cold Monday night could have been a weekend rager with the way they were dancing all night. White stated, “Your city is fucking freezing – even for people from England,” before turning up the heat with the upbeat “Fruit Machine.”
The Ting Tings came out for a two-song encore that turned the Mod Club Theatre into a future house club. They started with new song “Do It Again” off Super Critical and brought out the strobe lights and underground vibes in a dark rendition of the Calvin Harris-produced song “Hands.”
(All photography by Ashley Emma Ng)