Review: Dum Dum Girls at Lido

As a young girl – we are talking 5 years old to around 13 – I was obsessed with Madonna, on so many levels. In some regards, I still am today. She brought me up to value womanhood over cuteness, to show nudity and see it for the great creation that it is, to not care all that much about what other people think about you. I might be given a bit too much credit to Madonna here and not enough to my parents, but you know, I am trying to make a point.

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The point in question is that young people need idols and that in Pop’n’Rock female idols are still far and between. For me personally, Dee Dee Dum Dum is one to fulfil that role with bravo. She is talented, confident, sexy. And she goes on stage, night after night, with a see-through top, only nipples covered, and wears it in a way that every woman wants to be *that* woman. It’s wonderful to watch.

Imagery aside, the new Dum Dum Girls album is the best yet and a brave step into a darker sound for Dee Dee. You hear Pretenders and you hear Bangles but you also hear more melancholy and a heartfelt sound. Truth be told, I am absolutely addicted to “Too True”. It’s the album I put on as I leave work and the one I listen to when I get ready for a night out. It was the album of our California desert holiday, a record the whole family could agree on.

Review: Dum Dum Girls

Frankly, although I really wanted to see the Dum Dum Girls and had bought my ticket well in advance, my expectations weren't actually that great. I full-heartedly support female groups and believe that women are still disadvantaged and not taken seriously in the male-dominated music business. But I have recently also seen a few female bands which weren't actually that great and where I had got the impression that they were being supported for the wrong reasons.

My worries were very ill-founded. Dum Dum Girls lived up to everything great you have heard about them. Or her that is, since the band members change regularly, except for Dee Dee Dum Dum, head of the band. And here was my first surprise: Despite this, Dum Dum Girls are anything but a one-girl-show. With a kick-ass drummer and good support on the guitars, the band was very solid. Dee Dee herself made an impression by coming across a little shy yet also displaying that femme fatale aura she is known for.

My second surprise of the evening was not related to the band: Despite playing danceable girl group inspired rock tunes, the audience was very restraint. There was not any dancing worth mentioning and even the clapping in-between songs could have been a bit more enthusiastic. Props to the dullest audience Berlin could possibly offer.

But nevermind. With a flight to catch in the morning, I was grateful for a comparatively short set and a Smith cover encore - probably the best Smith cover I have heard so far. I went home happy.