Back in September (the 12th to be exact) a musician I follow on Twitter – one Tina Dico (@tinadico) – tweeted that she would be giving away one pair of tickets to each of her US tour stops. Twitter has become a popular venue for giveaways lately (I believe largely in part to Tony Hawk) and when I saw her tweet I instantly checked her website for her tour dates. I did not expect her to come to this area – popular as she is in her home country of Denmark and in Europe, she’s still relatively unknown here in the states – but I was hoping for a Seattle show, perhaps. Sure enough, she had a stop in Seattle on Oct. 7th. I was fifteen minutes late seeing her tweet, so I had little hope that I would get the tix, but I tried anyway. I sent her an @ reply that Seattle was not too far and if they were available…
We (Mandy and Miranda and I) went out for the day (I don’t recall for what) and all the while I kept checking Twitter via my phone or iPod Touch. About two hours later I had a reply from Tina, “@jamesenloe You’re on!” Amazingly I had replied in enough time to get the tix to her show. Naturally, I was quite excited to see her live.
I first came across Tina via my favorite group, Zero 7 where she sang on their second album, “When it Falls”. I fell in love with the song “Home” which Tina sings. After I learned who she was, I started picking up her albums and enjoying her songwriting and voice. So the chance to see her live was an exciting one, needless to say.
Once I confirmed I had the tickets it was a matter of getting the time off (done) and then finding a hotel and making arrangements for Miranda. Priceline.com provided the hotel – we got the Westin Seattle for under $85 for the night. We’d stayed at a Westin before and knew the quality of the hotel (even though they nickle and dime you to death – $9.95 for internet in the rooms? Seriously?) and were happy with the price. Our friend Sean (Miranda’s “uncle” Sean) said that he would be happy to watch her for us while we were at the show. Luckily the hotel was about a 10 minute walk to the venue so we would be able to park the car for the time we were there and not worry about it.
Wednesday morning, Oct. 7th we set out on our journey, a quick 34 hour trip to Seattle and back.
The drive over was good; although five hours it went by quick for me. Miranda caught a 40 minute nap – a fair bit shorter than usual, but as much as she fought off sleep, we were both happy when she finally crashed.
We checked into the hotel, with just a bit of confusion about where to go and our luggage. The room was nice, roomy, with a king bed, sofa and chair, and a table for work (even with the aforementioned pricey internet). The three of us hit the hotel pool for a bit of fun (Miranda remembered her swimming lessons!) before Sean came over. I joked about taking a Heinekin from the mini-bar – only because it was $8.50 (which they still charged me for, since I took it out). Sean came over early so he could hang out with us and Miranda could remember him; which apparently she did well. After we dressed and left she was a perfect little angel – no crying, no fuss, no muss. She played with Sean and fell asleep in his arms at 8:30.
Mandy and I walked to the Triple Door where, after checking the guest list, we were seated. The Triple Door, I have to say, is a wonderful concert venue. It does not appear to have a bad seat in the house. We were seated a few rows back on the right, next to an aisle. The restaurant associated with the Triple Door, Wild Ginger, had amazing food. We had Crab Cakes (about the size of a half dollar, but still good), Pad Thai, and scallops and shrimp in a curry sauce (don’t recall the name). Desert was based upon Oktober fest and included a cake and a beer float. The cake was awesome, the beer float – well, beer and ice cream, not the best combo.
The opening act was a duo called “Fences”. The vocalist was challenging to understand. His mic had too much bass and he mumbled a bit. I am not sure if they were a local band or if they toured with Tina.
After the brief break after Fences, Tina took the stage for a solo number. Her voice was crystal clear and wonderful. After the first group I was afraid I would not be able to understand her but that was not the case at all. After the first number Helgi Jonsson came out to join her and they performed the rest of the set as a duo.
Tina clearly has a fan base in Seattle; a number of people would applaud when she started a familiar number and a group at one table held up Denmark flags.
The show was great. She sang songs I knew and several I did not, but it didn’t matter. Her voice was so clear, so confident that I was able to hear the lyrics for each. Helgi is one of those rare multi-talented individuals that drive normal musicians nuts: he sang, he played the piano, the guitar and the trombone, each masterfully.
At the end of the 90 minute set I could hardly believe that it had been an hour and a half. They did a two song encore and then the show was over. It was one of the best shows that I have seen, in all honesty. Mandy and I had a great time and it was nice for us to be able to get away for a night out (odd that we had to drive to Seattle to do it). We walked back to the hotel and discussed the show. Sean was there watching Sports Center, Miranda sacked out.
Here are a few clips that someone took at the show, so you can see what we saw that night.
Tina said that the Triple Door was becoming one of her favorite venues that she would be back. I hope so – next time I won’t hesitate to buy tickets so we can see her again.