Dark Dark Dark

The last time they passed through these parts, Dark Dark Dark were on a raft on the Giudecca, busy playing at being an installation of pirate artists, of gypsy musicians. Nona Marie Invie recalls those roaring years with a faint grimace of nostalgic pity, gently laid to rest in "Who Needs Who", during the Padua date of the Italian leg of this latest European tour, staged on a freezing May evening as part of the open-air series curated by Macello. Rather than it no longer being the same band as back then, perhaps it's simply that they're no longer the same people.

Cold but welcoming and, all in all, well attended (numbers perhaps unexpected even for Milan, especially on a weeknight), the space created by the organizers in the courtyard of an old slaughterhouse fills up quietly to the sound of North America, a duo offering rather insipid instrumental rock, built entirely on rhythm and on runs that veer between electric and electronic. An odd pairing, to say the least, that's hard to decode.

Finally our heroes arrive, with "Tell Me", "How It Went Down", monster tracks that the band replays with absolute fidelity, guided with a sure hand by Invie's voice, a true driving force even when she steps away from her trusty keyboard, as in the recent "What I Needed".

And yet, the whole thing perhaps comes across as a little too safe, too faithful, especially given the tricky task of recreating the sonic density they achieve in the studio. You'd want maybe a few more flashes, one of those Balkan-flavored openings that set "Who Needs Who" alight, as in "Last Time I Saw Joe" – instead it feels more like watching an Invie solo show, backed by the band with diligence and precision, but little more.

Setting aside that general impression, the live show remains excellent, between a cover of Kate Bush ("Running Up That Hill") and the resurrection (one of very few in a setlist heavily skewed toward "Who Needs Who") of "Daydreaming" from "Wild Go", perhaps the most beautiful track the band has ever written – even if it already belongs to their new style.

But perhaps something is still missing: that self-assurance which allows artists to handle their own compositions with greater ease and flexibility, live as well.

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