Still On My Mind Tour

Dido Live in NYC

Dido (whose full name is quite a mouthful: Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong) was launched into international stardom when Eminem samples the first verse of her hit song Thank You in his song about the tragic story of an obsessive fan, Stan.  Her debut album, No Angel, went on to sell over 21 million copies around the world - Here With Me was my personal favourite from her debut album, largely because it was also the theme song for the series Roswell. Her second album, Life For Rent, was also a huge success worldwide and included the singles White Flag, Life for Rent and Sand in my Shoes.  This was followed by the lesser-known Safe Trip Home and Girl Who Got Away.

Dido released her highly-anticipated fifth album, Still on my Mind, in March this year and has also been touring and doing television and radio interviews to promote the album.  Last week she performed at Terminal 5 in NYC, probably my least favourite venue in the city because a) it's not convenient to get to from any subway station b) it is ridiculously warm inside - seriously, can they not afford decent air conditioning or just good old fans? c) since it's a standing room venue, the view of the stage is often obscured.

Despite all of that, Dido was as amazing as I expected; her warm voice soared through the space effortlessly and gave me chills a few times.  She was thrilled to be back in NYC, "where it all began", and she seemed genuinely touched by the love from the audience (as expressed in an Instagram message the next day).  She sang several songs from the new album but made sure to include the early hits that made her so popular.  The projections on the sheer backdrops were also a stunning complement to each song.  It was another surreal experience to experience one of my favourite artists, whom I have followed for twenty years.

The complete setlist was as follows:
Hurricanes
Hell After This
Life for Rent
Hunter
No Freedom
Grafton Street
Sand in My Shoes
Give You Up
Thank You
Friends
Sitting on the Roof of the World
Quiet Times
Here With Me
See You When You're 40
Mad Love
End of Night
Take You Home
Take My Hand

Encore:
Have to Stay
White Flag