Dartmouth Soundoff: Icona Pop plays to sold out crowd
Courtesy of Filter Magazine
People who know me in real life probably know that real life me has minimal interaction with Hanover this term. Instead of trying to hide the fact that I'm writing fromoff-campus, I'm going to embrace all that ways that living in New York can enhance this column. Perhaps the most obvious advantage of living in New York, or any major city, for someone writing about music is the superior availability of live shows.
Last week, I went to my first show in the city: Icona Pop at Webster Hall. Many would consider Icona Pop a one-hit wonder (I'm not even sure I'm convinced otherwise), and to be perfectly honest, when I found out they were playing I couldn't think up of another songoffthe top of my head than the ubiquitous-growing-tired "I Love It." But I went since I had a friend visiting that weekend, and the tickets were cheaper than dinner, where ourDartmouthfriend group city reunion got a little out of hand with tapas. Naturally, I made sure to acquaint myself with the Icona Pop singles, to at least know what I'm hearing and be able to vaguely sing along with the choruses.
We rolled in at8:45on the dot, when Icona Pop was scheduled to take the stage (so much for supporting opening acts, oops!). And much to our surprise, they were literally kickingofftheir set at that moment. Since when did these things actually start on time? As the duo began their set with "We Got the World," we worked our way through the crowd to not-quite-the-front where aggressive elbows from concert-goers made it pretty clear that we were not going to proceed any further.
Icona Pop, originally from Sweden, consists of Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo. They released their second album,This Is...Icona Popon Monday. This show was part of their Iconic Tour, which concludes in Brooklyn Wednesday night.
One of the most refreshing aspects of the duo and their performance was the authenticity with which they acted. In contrast to the wafer-like image of most female pop culture icons, they had real bodies, real make-up and haircuts. Although they wore futuristic dresses, probably making some high-fashion statement that soared over my head, they were no annoying antics or gimmicks that accompanied their wardrobe. They didn’t feel the need to outdo every other New York act in the category of outlandish behavior, but instead let their music and their performance speak for itself, and the sold out crowd adored them.
At one point Hjelt, in the obligatory motion of thanking the fans for their support, commented on the floor of the club being characteristically shaky as the crowd jumped up and down—both making a connection with the experience of the fans and showing a sense of familiarity with the particular venue.
They were the only ones that occupied the stage, moving behind the mixing boards set at the back of the stage to do their ownsoundproduction. For a few songs, Jawo was brought an electric guitar, which was promptly removed when that particular song was over, showing that the guitar was for functionality only and wasn’t to be just an accessory. When they finally did play “I Love It”—at the very end of course—they didn’t draw it out or over-capitalize on what surely brought in half of the audience. (Be glad I’m not including my iPhone-captured video of questionable quality).
Perhaps the biggest downside of the performance was its length. I’m not trying to be one of those saying “it was so great, I wanted more!” but instead, I’m pointing out I paid $30 for this, and the set was only 55 minutes long. Another additional 3 songs perhaps would have made it the perfect length. Instead we were out of the club by a quarter to ten—perfect for a school night, only it wasFriday.
Stay tuned—there are definitely more concert reviews—to come this term!