Live review: TTSSFU at The White Hotel

Words by Alfie Chase

In November just gone, TTSSFU played at the iconic White Hotel to a sold-out audience. Her fanbase in Manchester feels more personal as she is (relatively) local, being from Wigan. Yet, what her recent sold-out run of shows and future tour of Europe prove is that she is only getting bigger and better. Her eccentric, talented, and ironic personality showed on stage, a refreshing performance in contrast to the overly self-indulgent, often male-centric world of shoegaze and grunge music. Her distinctive sound, overlayed with melodic vocals, makes her music ethereal — and seeing it live was certainly better than hearing it through headphones.

TTSSFU's music takes influence from Blondie, Lou Reed, Kurt Cobain, and Courtney Love, with the latter being particularly evident in her fashion sense. She arrived on stage after phenomenal opening sets from Lonnie Gunn and Maximillian Tanner in her classic uniform consisting of a beautiful dress, her guitar, and of course, a white bob wig. It’s impossible to discuss TTSSFU without discussing the wig that has become a staple of her persona, wearing it at all shows and giving a post-modern ironic glamour to her look.

She is also known for her sense of humour, with her Instagram posts often including zoomed-in images of people’s faces attending her concerts, as well as random uncaptured images of Liza Minelli. She also admitted to i-D magazine that she ran a fake conspiracy theory Instagram page for a while, trying to convince people that Anne Hathaway was secretly trying to take over the world.

Credit: Ella Sofuoglu @ The Mancunion

The White Hotel acted as the perfect setting for her music, with its staging allowing everyone to get a good view and have an intimate yet unique perspective of the gig. No barrier separating her from the fans, but a communal space for everyone to enjoy her and her band.

Every band member brought something to the set and proved themselves to be nothing short of incredible, letting TTSSFU herself shine while playing the distinctive riffs that make her music so catchy. The band all wore suits, a motif that has been kept for a while and now testifies to TTSSFU’s strong image. At Latitude Festival, even in a swelteringly hot tent, the band still wore suits, and she still wore the wig, impressive visually and in the not fainting from heat stroke regard.

Credit: Ella Sofuoglu @ The Mancunion

The crowd were a mixture of cool art students, BBC Radio 6 Music-listening dads, fellow musicians, and her friends and family who had come out for the hometown show, all looking quintessentially cool and White Hotel-esque while wrapped up in gloves and scarves necessitated by the four-degree weather. Everyone in the audience enjoyed her music, including the performance of her new release ‘Upstairs' which has quickly become one of her most popular songs, featuring a melodic dreamy grunge sound and an undulating bass riff complementing the song’s melancholic topic of staring at pictures of someone you have complex feelings for.

Credit: Ella Sofuoglu @ The Mancunion

TTSSFU also performed her hits 'Call U Back' and 'I Hope You Die', which have become fan favourites since their release. 'Call U Back' is a grungy, longing song, with sharp riffs punctuating her voice and solidifying her alternative icon status, while 'I Hope You Die' provided the set's closing song, starting slow before building to yelling and flashing lights, a powerful and angry song. The building guitar filled the warehouse as the volume of her voice grew, ending in shouting, thrashing, and flashing lights that illuminated her silhouette and the enthralled crowd. She finished by throwing her wig off and walking off stage, showing she is defiant, angry, and bold.

Overall, Tasmin and her band are phenomenal, being a staple of Manchester’s modern music scene, and their live show cemented them as an iconic name in British music as a whole.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2ifeSZftoVMNM6guOjo2SG?si=n-Or7EZ_RsiLerQgRKk8NA