The first thing one notices about Dido during tonight's performance is her voice. Not the strangely haunting mellifluous singing voice that has become omnipresent on the nation's fitness club MTV screens over the past few months.
No, perhaps more extraordinary still is the cockney sparrow style chirrup with which she greets the audience throughout the set. One would have thought that such a rare and beguiling vocal talent would surely merit a speaking voice tinged with, perhaps, a wistfully Irish accent or a dark, characterful Scottish drawl. Well, apparently not in Dido's case. It's Bianca Butcher all the way, and it's the first of many things that doesn't quite make sense during Dido's biggest London gig to date.
Take the strange mish mash of musical styles which characterise tonight's opening song for example. Part late 80's commercial ambient house track, part Clannad style Celtic rocker, Dido's musical vision on the face of it appears impressively ambitious. Unfortunately tonight it's rendered wearily incoherent.
Even recent single 'Here With Me' fails to clarify things. As the subtleties of Dido's delicate vocals are drowned beneath the mire of a bass heavy rhythm section, most of the crowd opt to chat amongst themselves, a gesture which coming from this collection of well turned out, law abiding thirtysomethings is the pop concert equivalent of being violently gobbed at and bottled off stage.
It's not until 'Honestly OK' that matters appear tangibly to improve. With its stripped bare, perfectly nailed down percussion and meandering minor-major melody, for the first time tonight Dido and her band manage to conjure a mesmerising and coherent blend of their, up until now, seemingly disparate elements.
From here on in Dido can do little wrong. 'I'm No Angel' and new song 'Don't Leave Home' showcase an impressive command of melody whilst 'Thank You', dedicated tonight to anyone who could recite any lyrics from the song except those which make up the Eminen sponsored first verse, provide the crowd with a rare singalong opportunity.
So granted, her voice may at times sound too close to Dolores Cranberry to be entirely comfortable, and her slightly earnest brand of sweet sincerity can sometimes be a little hard to stomach. There can, however, be no doubting Dido's laudable attempts to balance a commercial pop sensibility with genuine experimentalism. She may not always succeed, but after a rocky start tonight she came fairly close.
