Death From Above 1979 played The Institute in Birmingham, with a thundering set full of blistering riffs, fuzzing feedback and the hard hitting drums that are practically synonymous with the band. Over a decade since the 2 piece from Toronto last played in Birmingham, they brought with them an 18 song setlist, with each track sending the crowd into complete madness.
Starting the set with the opener from their debut album ‘You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine’, ‘Turn It Out’ set the tone for the rest of the evening, before going into one of the many standouts from ‘The Physical World’, ‘Right On, Frankenstein’ and then straight into ‘Virgins’ from the same album. Barely stopping for breath, apart from the occasional nod to the rather rowdy but amazing crowd who not only belted out the lyrics to each much loved song, but every riff that Jesse F Keeler tore out from his bass guitar. With the duo splitting in 2006 after touring their debut album relentlessly, citing the reasons behind the split as the dreaded ‘musical differences’, these 2 gained cult status and had fans chomping at the bit when they announced this tour in support of last years second album The Physical World. The Birmingham crowd did not leave disappointed.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zNh1lJkVRo]
They closed their main set with a rapturous version of ‘Always On’ before leaving the stage. Before coming back for the inevitable encore, there was mass chanting of “DFA” as they returned to the stage for a 3 song encore of ‘Black History Month’, ‘Romantic Rights’ and ‘The Physical World’. It wasn’t just the songs that made this night so special, Death From Above 1979’s light show was a real treat as it brought a new dimension to the already fantastic spectacle. Royal Blood get all the headlines but Death From Above did it first. The triumphant return of Death From Above 1979 to the Midlands, let’s hope they stick around for a bit longer this time.
Words by Callum McCormack
@mccormackcallum