Niki and the Dove: 1/27 @The Constellation Room

Josh the host of the Noodle Incident, airing Friday's 2:00-4:00am, recently saw Niki and the Dove at the The Constellation Room on January 27, 2013. You can find his concert review below. The Niki and the Dove photos were taken by Adrian the host of 60 Cycle Hum, airing Thursday's 12:00-2:00pm.

  
 “It’s a laserfuck spectacular, hope you guys are all strapped in!” Opening act, Vacationer, if not eloquently, summarily described the rollicking synth onslaught of Niki and the Dove’s live show. That’s not to suggest however, that the Swedish duo’s penchant for spectacle (they emerged on stage at a deliberate pace, clad in copious neckware, neon duct tape and face paint) supplanted the intensely catchy strain of euro alt-pop they originally built their name on.

   Clutching two microphones, front-woman Malin Dahlström’s thundering, often overdubbed vocals threatened to swallow the sparsely populated Constellation Room. The two seem as though they’d be more at home selling out arenas, rather than the tiny, intimate offshoot of Santa Ana’s Observatory. Though Gustaf Karlöf – Niki and the Dove’s second half and resident bleep-blooper, stationed behind a fortress of electronics – ensured that the small crowd kept moving.

   For their part, the audience must be commended. Playing like a self-aware rave (the only glow sticks I spied were in the hands of Sweden-native groupies) on the otherwise usually sleepy Sunday evening slot.

   Concert highlights include “DJ Ease my Mind” and “Gentle Roar.” The latter being anything but as Karlöf put the singular physical drum on stage to good use, creating a driving, propulsive rhythm, while Dahlström beat her Tambourine into submission with gusto. Meanwhile, on the former, Dahlström enticed (it wasn’t difficult) the audience into a flurry of claps: proving once again that unadulterated cool overrides any pretension of self-consciousness with groovy hand dancing, briefly donning a flower bonnet (!) at one point.

   The only fault to be had with the show is the overblown sonics often erased much of the melodic nuance and sophistication apparent on the band’s studio recordings. To stand by this complaint would be to ultimately miss the point, however. Pitch shifted vocals and slinky synths often result in a slew of comparisons to fellow Swede duo, The Knife. But the key difference between these two acts lay in Niki’s weaning on pop royalty: they just wanna make you dance. And to that end, they were entirely successful.

   Niki and the Dove’s debut full length, Instinct, is available digitally, or at a record store near you on Sub Pop.