Dido
Latest News Concert Reviews
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD 6/22/01
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postings from the siren, herself. To hear Dido, check out my online radio
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Sirens
of Song Radio at Live365.com.
So
much can change in two years time. Dido first played in the Maryland/D.C.
area at the 9:30 Club in September 1999 to a crowd of less than 200 (a complete
guess-timate). Here it is, two years later and Dido is headlining her own
tour, playing to a packed house at a venue that holds approximately
15,200. Not only that, she's brought along Travis
and Emiliana Torrini as opening acts.
Not even a dark and stormy night prevented Dido and the band from wowing their
fans. She lamented that although she felt bad for the people sitting on
the lawn, all the rain made it a lot cooler on stage. Complete with a new set and lighting, Dido appeared on stage in a
baby blue tanktop with "Travis" embroidered on the front. She
performed every song from No Angel, including two unreleased songs, "See
The Sun" and "Do You Have A Little Time." (due to a last minute
decision, they didn't perform "Don't Leave Home") As expected,
"Thankyou" was a definite crowd pleaser. Dido played sing-a-long
near the end of the song, letting the audience sing the chorus for her.
Everyone from teenagers to parents holding their children followed her cue and
sang. The big surprise of the night was the crowd's reaction to "Take
My Hand." The pulsating house beat had fans out of their seats and
dancing.
Mother Nature must be a Dido fan as well, as thunder played a contributing role.
At the ending of one of her songs, the
sky let out a muffled rumble which blended in perfectly with the music. Dido
noticed the coincidence and let a wry smile slide out.
The band gave fans all they wanted as well with Alex dazzling the crowd with his
percussion, the bassist Keith playing in his
hometown for the first time and keyboardist John playing in front of many family members as
well, Vini's guitar playing accompanying Dido perfectly, Pete delivering timely scratching and samples and the new percussionist
sprinting back
and forth between the percussion instruments and the drum set on the opposite
end of the stage.
To satisfy all the merchandise junkies, there are plenty of different shirts and
other goodies to choose from. Unfortunately, I forgot to stop by the stand
after the show.
Dido II
(9:30 Club, Washington D.C. 7/31/00)
Dido opened up her summer tour right here in D.C., and evidently,
word spread since her first time here, because she finally got the turnout here
she deserves. For those of you going to see her, get there early (when
doors open, if possible) if you want to get up front.
Instead of musical chairs, it was musical hair as Dido's hair color returned to
blonde (she was a brunette on her 7/21 Tonight Show appearance) and Alex dyed
his hair blonde. As usual, after the show the band was more than willing
to chat with fans, as Dido posed for pics and signed whatever was placed in
front of her. I admit that I went a little overboard with getting autographs
last year, so this time I settled for just a pic. Plenty of
concert photos are available on the
Photo
Page.
I apologize for not getting/stealing a setlist, but from memory she basically
performed every song from No Angel including two new songs, "Don't
Leave Home" and "Afraid To Sleep." Aside from "Here
With Me," one of the biggest crowd responses came from "Thankyou." When Dido started to introduce it, she mentioned Eminem and the
crowd went crazy. Throughout the night, she showed her usual quick wit.
When a bunch of guys
started a cheer for her, she joked that she couldn't understand a word
they were saying, but hoped they were saying something positive.
A personal treat for me was finally getting to hear "Slide"
live. Right before the song, she talked about a "Brian" who
was disappointed that they didn't do "Slide" the last time there, so
they were going to perform it for the first time. I was wondering what lucky guy got a mention in the middle of a
Dido show, not even realizing she was talking about me, until a couple of friends
beat some sense into my head (thanks Mikal and Virginia). I was still
having some doubts, so after the show I asked her if I was the "Brian"
she was referring to, and she said yes (for some neurotic reason, I still have
my doubts). She even remembered me as the guy who "stole" the
setlist last year, which was surprising. Anyway, just want to thank Dido and the
entire band - Alex, Keith, Vini, John, and Pete for putting on a great show.
Dido's 1st Tour
(9:30 Club, Washington D.C. 9/2/99)
If you plan on seeing Dido, you're in for a real treat. Even before she
set foot on stage, the tone of the night was set with the band performing a killer intro.
From that point on, I knew the show was going to be incredible, and it was! The show was a family affair in a way, because the
Keith, the bass player, is from Ellicott City, MD and his parents were in town to see the show.
After the show, the band mingled with some lingering fans, and Dido came out on the balcony area to sign autographs and pose for photos. She seemed willing to sign just about anything, as I got her to sign a poster, the
setlist, and an 8x10. (okay, so I was a little greedy). I definitely
have to give a special thanks to Mikal for "stealing" the setlist for me!! ;-) I was able to take some pics of her performing, but since no flash photography was allowed, they are a bit dark.
If you wanna see them just jump over to the
Photo Page.
For those of you who haven't been able to track down
The Highbury Fields EP, she opened up the night with "Worthless", a cut that is unavailable on the
No Angel album. A little bit later on in the night, she gave us a little bonus by performing an unreleased song called "Don't Leave Home" that she wrote while in the States. I enjoyed the show so much that I didn't even realize until the next day that they didn't do one of my
favorites,
"Slide."
Throughout the entire night, she played to the crowd making eye contact and even giving a few winks to a few lucky crowd members. She seemed to really enjoy herself onstage as well as the rest of the band. They fed off of the crowd's approval and gave it right back. They were
on stage jamming and having fun, which is how it should be.
Dido ended the night with a great cover of the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." All in all, Dido and the band put on a great live show and I definitely plan on seeing them again!
Image Gallery
Concert photos and
vidcaps are available at the
Dido Image Gallery hosted on flickr.
Multimedia
Sessions@AOL• Check out an interview and live acoustic medley by clicking here.
Craig Kilborn
• On August 13, 2003, Dido returned to the Craig Kilborn show to chat, play "5 questions," The 5 Questions this time around were:
1. You sang the theme song to the TV series "Roswell." What is the capital of New Mexico?
2. This flightless bird was once a native of the island of Mauritius. It was extinct by 1681.
3. Spell "Eminem" backwards.
4. You were born on Christmas Day. Name five of Santa's reindeer.
5. Besides "hogwarts" what's another British expression for "junk?"
She only got 3 of 5 but made up for it by demonstrating her newly learned talent of writing backwards with her left hand. video clip (Requires Real Video 9)
• Listen to the entire 10 minute interview of Dido's August 13, 2003 appearance, including "5 Questions." real audio clip 1 real audio clip 2
• The "5 Questions" from Dido's 06/19/2001 Craig Kilborn appearance, Dido Deux:
1. Spell "Liverpudlian" - L-I-V-E-R-P-U-D-L-I-A-N
2. Name two female singers who go by one name - Sade & Madonna
3. What color is Big Bird - yellow
4. True or False: In your homeland of England, every man is a homosexual - false
5. Which of these staffers has the worst British accent? - (click to play along)
• Craig Kilborn finally met the woman of his dreams when Dido appeared on his show on 12/19/00 for an interview and performance of "Thankyou." Click to listen.
Howard Stern Show
• Dido and her guitarist Vini appeared on Howard Stern and lived to tell about it. To hear the entire Stern saga, click on the audio link which features the December 11th interview and performance along with 4 other clips.
KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic
• Dido's February 24, 2000 visit to Morning Becomes Eclectic is up for grabs here, where you can hear an interview and performance, including two unreleased songs, "Afraid To Sleep" and "Don't Leave Home." (Direct link to the real audio file here.)
• Dido first stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic on September 15, 1999 for a performance and interview. To hear this incredible show, visit KCRW. (direct link to the audio)
Rockline Audio Chat
On February 17, 2000, Rockonline and Yahoo held an audio chat. Dido
answered questions from her hotel room in Houston, and seemed to have a great
time. A big thanks to Rich for letting me get so many questions in.
Here are a few audio excerpts:
Albums/Singles I Own
All sound clips in Real Audio 
Dido Live (2005)
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Life For Rent (2003)
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No Angel (1999)
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No Angel (1999) - promotional advance
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The Highbury Fields EP (1999) - promotional release only
Also Available...
Roswell - Original Television Soundtrack (2002)
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Here With Me/Thankyou (2000) -
DVD single
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Hunter (2001) - promo CD single
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Thankyou (2000) - promo CD single
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Don't Think Of Me (2000) - promo CD single
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Here With Me (1999) - promo CD single (1999)
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Pointfolio 1.0 (1999)
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Christmas Songs (2000)
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Platinum Christmas (2000)
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Bounce - Music From And Inspired By (2000)
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Sliding Doors - Music From The Motion Picture (1998)
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