 
|
Album: Dido: Live
Street Date: June 7, 2005
Length: 58:50
Rating: 
Reviewed by: Kevin
Dido: Live is a DVD/CD set. The DVD contains the full 17 song concert from Brixton Academy in London in August of 2004. This review is of the CD which contains an abridged version of the concert. 12 songs, none of her talking between songs.
1. Stoned - This was a great way to open the concert. The introduction builds for just shy of 2 minutes before she even begins singing. You can hear the crowd during the opening but during the actual song it's as clean as a studio recording. As the song closes she repeats "Take me home" which gives it a haunting sound.
2. Here With Me - This was her first single as it's very much a staple for a lot of fans, you can hear them screaming throughout the song. Musically they stayed pretty close to the CD version, many of the same musical queues, the main difference between the two is this has a slightly more acoustic guitar sound driving it.
3. See You When You're 40 - There is righteous anger driving this song. On the original CD it can easily be lost in the mix, but during this concert, she takes the song to a whole new level. The main song is a slow acoustic jam until the song closes around 4 minutes into it when it kicks into over drive. You get over a solid minute and a half of haunting vocals from her and the band raising it up. It could easily be the best song during the show.
4. Life For Rent - Because the audio CD is abridged from the full concert, all the talking between songs was removed, so the transition from the amazing ending from the last song goes into this soft song with just Dido and an acoustic guitar, whereas during the show she explains some of the history behind it and feels more natural. After the first verse when the chorus starts, the rest of the instruments kick in and you're right back into it.
5. Isobel - It's a song from her first album, not overly remarkable. It fits in perfectly with the concert as a whole, but I question the choice to include it on the abridged CD. There is an extended bridge which is why they included it, but overall I was disappointed with the choice.
6. Honestly OK - I love the echo effect used on this. She repeats this line several times "And I'm so lonely I don't even wanna be with myself anymore"; and you're feeling it right along with her. There's a combination of bongo drums and a synthesizer used to wrap up the song.
7. Take My Hand - It was the first song she ever wrote, and it's purely about sex. The energy level of the song increases consistently throughout the song building to a climax. The feel like you're dancing at a rave is woven into the song too.
8. Thank You - Everyone knows this song. You can hear the crowd singing along the entire time, and by the last chorus Dido yells "I wanna hear you sing!" and then holds out the mic and lets the crowd sing it.
9. Mary's In India - This is not a true story, Mary is actually her best friend. But her sarcastic side shines through on this. You can almost hear the smirk on the last line of the song.
10. Sand In My Shoes - This is the ultimate vacation anthem. In this song she brings you to a place of sun and sand, a place you would never want to leave, but it all must end, and then the longing comes to recapture that feeling again which makes the line "but I wanna see you again" so much more powerful.
11. White Flag - Probably her other most recognizable song aside from "Thank You" but thankfully this one isn't a sing along until the very last line. She said it was a hard one for her to sing, but you would never know it. She pulls it off perfectly.
12. See The Sun - For this she straps on an acoustic guitar and plays with the band. The original CD version didn't even come close to doing the song justice. This is the true version of the song. The power of the song WILL blow you away! This is the best song on the CD. Period.
The music was flawless, her vocals were flawless. The full concert on the DVD would receive the full 4 stars without question. I could only give this 3 and a half because some of what they cut out I feel would have completed the CD much more. The full concert was 91 minutes, a CD holds 80 minutes, so granted it does need to be cut down, but we only get about 59 minutes on this CD, they could have put 20 more minutes of music on here. There are 2 in particular, "Hunter" & "Don't Leave Home" both of which were radio & video singles, but they did not deem worthy to put these songs on the CD, I don't see why.
In the United States she is one of the most under rated artists, but Dido: Live is a perfect reaffirmation that she is one of the best performers in all of the world.
|
All content is © 2004-2017 AlbumBuzz.com / Staff & Site Credits
|
 
|
