There is quite simply nothing better than a packed Rock City crowd, singing together at the top of their lungs. It doesn’t always happen but when it does, you’ll find yourself at a mighty special gig. Having already caught Australian indie heroes DMA’S a few times previously, including one time on their home turf in Australia, our Karl Blakesley had good inkling this could have been one of those magical nights. So, we headed down to Rock City to see if our assumptions were correct…
You can tell tonight is a sold out show the minute you reach the top of the Rock City stairs and see an almost full crowd for the opening act, Liverpudlian indie outfit STONE. By the time we’ve waded through the bar, they seem to be wrapping up their short set. “Life can be hard, but today is beautiful,” exclaims frontman Finlay Power before launching into a seismic performance of Leave It Out. It’s just the shot of energy the crowd needs, helping them to get fired up for the main event.
Thirty minutes later and Rock City is now full to the brim, so much so that the usually quiet corner of the venue is also overflowing with bodies. Without a doubt one of the busiest shows I can remember there this year, DMA’S finally take to the stage and kick things off with a bang, launching straight into Olympia, which is still for my money the best track off fourth album, How Many Dreams? The crowd starts as they mean to go on with a thunderous singalong, along with limbs flying everywhere and pint cups full of beer rocketing into the Rock City rafters.
As they blast through popular anthems Timeless, The Glow and Get Ravey, I notice the screens to the side of the stage show the band and crowd but with some trippy graphics laid over the top. While this might be part of DMA’S own production for the night, it makes me think of other sold-out Rock City shows where having the live feed shown on the screens could be a huge benefit, assisting visibility for those at the back. Something to consider going forward perhaps… but I digress.
Back to the action and guitarist Johnny Took states; “Here’s one we’ve not played for a while,” before the band pull out Emily Whyte from their 2018 sophomore album, For Now. As they play it, frontman Tommy O’Dell leans forward and sings into someone on the front row’s phone, as a friend who couldn’t make it is seemingly beamed to the barrier via video call for their own personal serenade.
As they play through In The Air, Straight Dimensions and Fading Like A Picture, the energised crowd continues to eat it all up, with young lads climbing onto their mates’ shoulders and huge mosh pits opening up near the front of the stage. After a shout out to STONE, Johnny Took then declares; “This one is a very special song for us.” As the first words of Silver are sung, the lyrics are bellowed back to the stage at full volume, with Tommy O’Dell’s voice barely audible over the crowd. It doesn’t matter though as the crowd is the star of the show for this one, singing their hearts out in unison as more people climb onto shoulders and the first crowd surfers of the night emerge. One surfer in particular is a bloke seemingly in his mid-forties boasting a Mod haircut, who unfortunately manages to lose his shoe as he’s lifted and launched upside down over the barrier. Hopefully he managed to get it back!
Silver seems an impossible act to follow but thankfully DMA’S have plenty of anthems to spare. “This is the song where it all started for us,” explains Johnny, as Delete sees the crowd continue where Silver left off, reverberating the “Let it all out…” refrain around the Rock City walls. “We love this city,” the band declare, before exiting the stage after main set closer Feels Like 37.
As the band re-emerge to tear through an encore of Step Up The Morphine, Lay Down and Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend, the latter feels particularly relevant as the crowd continue to down their pints and party like it’s a huge outdoor summer show. Johnny Took then ends the night with a heartfelt message: “We’ve come from the other side of the world, you’ve taken us under your wing and changed our lives – thank you.”
Indeed they may hail from Australia, but it is clear from the reception tonight that the UK is very much the spiritual home for DMA’S. And if everybody is indeed saying Thursday’s the weekend, based on this Thursday night show, I’d be inclined to agree.
DMA'S performed at Rock City on 7 December 2023
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