LIVE FROM THE PIT: Death From Above 1979 and Demob Happy

Canadian duo Death From Above 1979 have just kicked off the UK leg of their 20th anniversary tour for their first album; ‘You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine’. They stopped off at one of Manchester’s hottest venues, in terms of both popularity and the building’s impressive ability to turn itself into a sauna regardless of capacity, the O2 Ritz, and for their first show back in the city in over six years, they didn’t hold back on delivering a night to remember.

The support act for the UK shows on this tour were Demob Happy, a three piece alternative rock band originating from Newcastle upon Tyne. Having recently come off their own UK headline tour in May of this year, Demob Happy were primed and ready to provide the Ritz with an energetic and uplifting start to the evening. Playing songs such as ‘Voodoo Science’ and ‘Autoportrait’, their offbeat lyricism and syncopated basslines completely drew the audience in. They finished their set with ‘Be Your Man’, a beautifully sixties sounding number consisting of fuzzy guitar and Beatles-esque chorus harmonies. It left the audience on a major high and buzzing for what else was to come.

About two hours after doors, Death From Above took the stage, barely acknowledging the audience and instead jumping straight into ‘Turn It Out’, the opening track of their first album. It’s an incredible start to an album and an even better start to a live concert. The energy was immediately turned up to eleven as guitarist and synth player, Jesse Keeler, and drummer and vocalist, Sebastien Grainger delivered the heavily distorted and heady track that had the audience enthralled from the very first beat.

After playing through nearly all the songs on their first album, the band finished their run on ‘Sexy Results’, a fuzzy and dancey track that really makes Demob Happy feel like the perfect choice to have as the support for the tour.  Up to this point, neither band member had spoken once, really allowing the songs to flow back to back. No disruptions. No distractions. It made for a truly immersive listening experience and allowed fans to truly get lost in an album many of them had grown up loving.

After completing the album run, Death From Above went on to play some of their later hits, and as they began to reach the end of their set it was clear what people wanted to hear. Echoes of “Play Trainwreck!” could be heard in the short breaks between songs until they finally played it as their last song before their encore.

To quote one of the song’s own lyrics; “I can’t get enough” seemed to be the sentiment held by the entire audience as they chanted for the band to come back out after finishing. A whole chorus of “DFA! DFA! DFA!” culminating in deafening cheers as the band returned for their encore, consisting of ‘Crystal Ball’ (which Sebastien spoke about having been written during a soundcheck at a previous show in Manchester) and ‘Dead Womb’, a song from their very first EP in 2002 (which was also later sampled by Crystal Castles in 2008). It left the night on a wonderfully nostalgic note, and the audience thoroughly reminded that Death From Above sound just as good as they did twenty years ago.

Words and photos: Izzy Scott