On the day of the release of their fourth album How Many Dreams? DMA’s celebrated by holding an intimate acoustic gig and signing session at Rough Trade Nottingham...
The place was already packed half an hour before the band were due to come on stage, and excitement built until DMA’s entered the stage, starting with old classic Feels Like 37. The crowd were vocal from the start, by far the loudest crowd I’ve seen for an acoustic gig!
Next up was a single from the new album - Olympia. Guitarist Johnny Took was the most animated of the band, clearly enjoying himself on stage and doing most of the talking between songs. He explained that this was the first intimate tour they’d done in the UK, and how much they’ve been enjoying forming the close connections with their fans that are less possible in bigger gigs.
More new-album singles followed, with Something We Are Overcoming one that I particularly enjoyed. The recorded version has a dance-club sound that I was intrigued as to how they’d replicate in an acoustic gig, but they used the keyboard well to replace those sounds and give the song a more emotional feel.
As the album had only been out a matter of hours, the crowd were less familiar with Forever - a non-single from How Many Dreams? - but still seemed to enjoy it. We were then treated to fan-favourite Delete, a song that is incredibly powerful in any format, and sounded even more so in such a small room. The eight-song set finished with the biggest hit from the new album, Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend.
The omission of one of DMA’s biggest songs Lay Down was a bit disappointing, especially as they had played it on the previous dates on this tour, but eight songs is fairly reasonable for a Rough Trade gig which is low-priced and includes a CD and the opportunity to get it signed by the band.
Unfortunately the band were not allowing the chance to have a picture with them, which is unusual for a signing, but the huge queues were a good reason for trying to speed things up. DMA’s provided a great night for their fans, with everyone going home happy with their opportunity to get to know their heroes.
I’ll be seeing DMA’s again during summer festival season where I’m sure they’ll be playing to a far greater crowd, and I think I’ll feel a closer connection to the band having seen them in such an intimate venue.
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