Death From Above 1979
Date: May 9, 2005 Hold On, Children Death From Above 1979 have been an extremely active touring unit, with May seeing them make their fourth trip to Ottawa in the past year. Once again, the all ages format made for an active, physical crowd; and each band on the bill responded with a lively performance. Uncut came through with an uptempo, noisy set that did a fine job of establishing the mood for the night. The highlight of their time was "Understanding the New Violence," which saw them assisted by Nirmala Basnayake and Ronnie Morris of Contoller.Controller. Controller.Controller did their part in maintaining the energetic vibe. Although the moshing in the crowd was more than I expected, given the group's dancier sound, the band's output and charisma certainly warranted enthusiasm. My only complaint in the set was a muddiness in the sound quality. This flaw made it difficult to appreciate the sonic nuances of the music. Nonetheless, I particularly enjoyed getting a glimpse at new material, as only half of the set was drawn from the band's debut EP. While the audience physicality was noteworthy for the openers, it was greatly magnified for Death From Above. The remainder of the night was a blur of bodies, although from where I was on the floor, everyone in the mosh behaved better than the crowd had earlier in the night, when many people had been pushing their way through the mix. Death From Above was in fine form, although I have come to expect no less from the duo. Despite the frequency of their visits and the scarcity of their source material, the band continues to keep the performances fresh. Among the twists at this concert were a seemingly tossed-off cover of "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics and an encore that saw the band return in their underwear, segueing from a cover of Danzig's "Mother" into "Losing Friends." Overall, it was another great night from Death From Above 1979, whose touring pace has to be applauded, and a fine showing from their opening acts. <--Prev (Sage Francis) | Next (Bright Eyes)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |