Riverside, Newcastle. 05-03-18
Support: Thousand Below, Veil of Maya
Oh yes! Plenty of loud vibes and good times here at the Riverside tonight. I headed up to Newcastle early to have a little catchup with a friend as well as hang about for something else which will be in a later post. The headliners on for the night were Dance Gavin Dance.For those who don’t know, they’re a six-member post-hardcore/experimental band from Sacramento, California. Their latest record ‘Mothership’ was released back in 2016.
From the outset, openers Thousand Below should’ve been a slam dunk on Tyneside, and they were. They gave a pretty solid set for their first time in the country and the huge riffs as well as ‘James DeBerg’ blaring vocals would send chills to anyone in attendance. I’mm just a little upset that more people weren’t down earlier for their set because though it’s not a perfected set, this supporting band are ones you just don’t get these days within the genre.
Veil of Maya on the other hand, gave so much energy I’m surprised the room didn’t burst. Members of the band, especially vocalist ‘Lukas Magyar’ was just reminiscent of a force of nature between tracks such as ‘Unbreakable’ or ‘Punisher’ because he just couldn’t stand still. Given the size of the stage, how could he not? Regardless, it seems as if there was plenty to keep fans both old and new at bay for the moment and they feed of the energy of the room before what is to come.
Moving onto Dance Gavin Dance, we have to give them credit because this is possibly one of the most fun sets I’ve seen in a while. The instrumentalism of the group coupled with the dual vocals is next level for the audience in a live context. What’s most interesting is the transition of the two between ‘Tilian Pearson’ & ‘Jon Mess’ (Dance Gavin Dance’s vocalists) as it’s almost unexpected where it’s encapsulates what the band are all about doing in their music moving forward, which is what anyone band would wish to do especially when you have longevity in mind; making music and having fun with your friends.
Overall though, this is possibly the hardest gig I’ve been to, musically when I say that. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been impressed by a group of musicians such as that in a while and that does say something about the whole rock sub-genres as a whole because on one hand bands always release new exciting material to the world but then you think how would this add to their live setting? Is it incorporated right? On some occasions, this doesn’t happen as well as it does but for Dance Gavin Dance it’s done in a way which just shows they are in unison of both the past and present and with their next record possibly on the way soon, they will be able to add to what was seen tonight.
Rating: 7/10
Thousand Below
Veil of Maya
Dance Gavin Dance
Almost Anything Music 