This is What it Sounds Like When Doves Sing: Niki & the Dove Perform at The Triple Rock

Dateline: Jan 19, 2013 – The Triple Rock Social Club – West Bank, Minneapolis, MN

I had made it through the bitter cold of a Midwinter Minnesotan night to the Triple Rock, on the West Bank area of town. This was my first concert of the new year, and my first concert at The Triple Rock, since a broken leg had forced me to miss MEN when they were here (damn the luck!).

The Crowd

I wasn’t sure what sort of crowd to expect, would the draw of Niki & the Dove be enough to lure people out of their warm homes? Apparently, yes. It was a rather crowded house, and a very mixed crowd indeed. Like most venues close to the University of Minnesota, the show was ages 18+, so there was a large crowd of minors with “X”s on their hands. The douchebag quotient was thankfully low, a plus side of concerts that aren’t at First Avenue is that the “brosters” tend to steer clear of them. People at the show were friendly, and I struck up a lovely conversation with the couple sitting next to me.

The Venue

The Triple Rock is a pretty good venue for a show. It’s a medium sized area, so you get a feeling of intimacy without feeling overly cramped. The cons of the venue were the lack of coat check and only one bartender. I am always flabbergasted by how many venues don’t have coat checks in Minneapolis. This put a hamper on my usual habit of standing near the front, as I didn’t want to leave my numerous accoutrements laying around in some corner. I felt bad for the bartender, and tipped accordingly. Even though it was an 18+ show, there were more than enough 21+ people to garner more than one bartender.

The Show

The show opened with two openers, two multi-piece outfits: Royal Canoe from Winnipeg and Vacationers from Philadelphia. I found both of these acts to be enjoyable enough, but both immensely forgettable. They definitely served as a nice contrast to Niki & The Dove, as both bands contained a large number of members and played traditional instruments.

I have seen Niki & the Dove once before, when they opened for Miike Snow last October at First Ave. I had only vaguely heard of them before, and I must admit that they left me more intrigued than impressed. For one, the sound was awful, which is a problem that seems to happen more often than not for opening acts on the First Ave main stage. Secondly, the performance was definitely not bad, but it was very timid, and Niki didn’t seem completely sure of herself on stage. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the crowd was anxious to see Miike Snow perform and not afraid to voice their opinions. After the concert, I hopped on Spotify and found that I in fact really liked Niki & the Dove, and was excited to find they were coming back.

Luckily, whatever stage fright they had suffered from at their First Ave performance, they have since gotten over it. Malin Dahlström’s performance was electric, energetic and exciting. The set-up was rather unambitious – which works for such a low key place as the Triple Rock – but the engagement with the audience paired perfectly with the intimate space. The crowd danced along with Malin, who thanked the audience for bringing plenty of glowsticks. Later on in the set, Gustaf commented that Minneapolis is a city near and dear to the Swedes. Now, I am usually dubious of bands praising the city they are playing in–after all, who is going to say, “You guys are OK, but Anchorage is way better!”–but due to Minneapolis’ Scandinavian heritage, I am willing to believe this.

The show opened with a retuned version of “Gentle Roar,” slower and much primal than the version on the album. This was a theme that would be repeated throughout the show. Whereas opening for Miike Snow had N&D playing the songs pretty much verbatim, this show had familiar songs redone in new and exciting ways.

N&D in general, and Malin’s voice in particular, are very much a composite of many different influence. While listening to their albums I am reminded of The Knife, Björk and Stevie Nicks all at once. This composite really shone forth in this show. One interlude between songs sounded like something off of The Knife’s Deep Cuts. And in many of the songs, Malin made some very Björk-esque noises.

As others have noted, one of the problems with N&D’s Instinct is that it really had all been heard before. I am hoping that the growth they have shown in their live show will also continue on in the recording studio. I found the songs they performed to be much more enjoyable and fresh live than on the record, and I hope that they continue on this path in the studio. N&D closed with an encore of “Tomorrow,” a future looking song that really fits with this new year, full of possibilities.