The Do: Live at the Roundhouse
Words by Lou Macleod
The Dø - possibly the coolest thing that could ever come of mixing Parisians, Helsinkians and Guitars, played a showcase at the recently revamped venue The Roundhouse, as part of a worldwide tour promoting A Mouthful - their staggeringly good debut album.
The chilled crowd erupted when The Dø took to the stage, their first time this year, opening with Playground hustle. A maize of sound and relentless beats which blew everyone away.
They have an entirely different vibe live, they are even more dynamic. Next was At Last – a beautiful love song with edge, declaring - don’t hate me cause I’m in love.
Olivia B Merilahti is the astoundingly cool and gifted front woman. Her outfit was Back to the Future II fantastic futuristic and she has real stage presence. Her voice moved seamlessly between soft, haunted melodies of the soulful The bridge is broken to Lady Sovereign, Beastie Boys, MC Chris’s Fett’s Vette (my backpacks got jets) rap on the awesome Queen dot Kong which explains the eclectic and long list of influences they cite including Ella Fitzgerald and the The WuTangClan.
They followed with the slightly darker, slower Travel Light. Their diverse blend of songs means they could equally funk up the stage at a massive festival or play to you in your living room.
They’ve got the best bits of the New Young Pony Club, CSS, Regina Spektor, solo Gwen Stefani, Kate Bush vibe - if they were all being chased by a percussion street band. They straddle scores of musical genres in style.
We got a special preview of a track not on the album - Bohemian Dance is a rhythmic, kooky, mystical and atmospheric song and sure sign this band have so much more to offer.
Next came On My Shoulders, arguably one of best songs on the record, a little PJ Harvey – Good fortune feel but about an octave higher.
The Dø knows how to stoke up the crowd and for their last song had everyone shouting the unbelievably catchy track Aha, (a- ha, aha, a-ha aha – that was our part...) They came back for an encore which was the brilliant Stay (just a little bit more.) A cute, melodic sugary sweet song surprisingly and cleverly juxtaposed with the lyrics “then I knew for sure that he would never be the satisfying shag I needed.”
It was an astonishing showcase and only when the crowd was sure there would be no second encore did it move to the bar. The Dø came to the bar after too and were promptly swamped by their hardcore following. I managed to squeeze in and chat to Dan Levy the other equally gifted half of The Dø - he’s surprisingly down to earth considering they had the first English speaking no. 1 album in France and play massive festivals around the world. He said they were still nervous to play in London’s amazing music scene but on this evidence, they have nothing to fear.
The Dø quite simply are a breath of fresh air and really are the most remarkable band. If you don’t have the album, then get it and if you haven’t seen them live, go see them. That’s an order.
The chilled crowd erupted when The Dø took to the stage, their first time this year, opening with Playground hustle. A maize of sound and relentless beats which blew everyone away.
They have an entirely different vibe live, they are even more dynamic. Next was At Last – a beautiful love song with edge, declaring - don’t hate me cause I’m in love.
Olivia B Merilahti is the astoundingly cool and gifted front woman. Her outfit was Back to the Future II fantastic futuristic and she has real stage presence. Her voice moved seamlessly between soft, haunted melodies of the soulful The bridge is broken to Lady Sovereign, Beastie Boys, MC Chris’s Fett’s Vette (my backpacks got jets) rap on the awesome Queen dot Kong which explains the eclectic and long list of influences they cite including Ella Fitzgerald and the The WuTangClan.
They followed with the slightly darker, slower Travel Light. Their diverse blend of songs means they could equally funk up the stage at a massive festival or play to you in your living room.
They’ve got the best bits of the New Young Pony Club, CSS, Regina Spektor, solo Gwen Stefani, Kate Bush vibe - if they were all being chased by a percussion street band. They straddle scores of musical genres in style.
We got a special preview of a track not on the album - Bohemian Dance is a rhythmic, kooky, mystical and atmospheric song and sure sign this band have so much more to offer.
Next came On My Shoulders, arguably one of best songs on the record, a little PJ Harvey – Good fortune feel but about an octave higher.
The Dø knows how to stoke up the crowd and for their last song had everyone shouting the unbelievably catchy track Aha, (a- ha, aha, a-ha aha – that was our part...) They came back for an encore which was the brilliant Stay (just a little bit more.) A cute, melodic sugary sweet song surprisingly and cleverly juxtaposed with the lyrics “then I knew for sure that he would never be the satisfying shag I needed.”
It was an astonishing showcase and only when the crowd was sure there would be no second encore did it move to the bar. The Dø came to the bar after too and were promptly swamped by their hardcore following. I managed to squeeze in and chat to Dan Levy the other equally gifted half of The Dø - he’s surprisingly down to earth considering they had the first English speaking no. 1 album in France and play massive festivals around the world. He said they were still nervous to play in London’s amazing music scene but on this evidence, they have nothing to fear.
The Dø quite simply are a breath of fresh air and really are the most remarkable band. If you don’t have the album, then get it and if you haven’t seen them live, go see them. That’s an order.
The Dø (http://www.myspace.com/thedoband) were playing at the Roundhouse, London (http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/)
Photos by Lou Macleod
Posted Fri, March 13, 2009