GIG REVIEW: Death From Above 1979 @ HMV Forum

It’s been five years since Death From Above 1979 split up, five long horrible years without music’s greatest drum and bass duo (sorry run,WALK!). When it was announced this year that they would be playing the American festival Coachella, it enraged and saddened a lot of people that this could quite possibly be their only reunion and that fans this side of the atlantic wouldn’t get a shot at seeing them once more. However a month down the line, and it was announced they had a couple of gigs left in them, a string of dates spread across the globe including this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals was topped off by a two-night residency at London’s HMV Forum.

The first announced, the 5th of May, was our date of choice and I’m pretty sure the Forum saw some of the most die hard and nervous with excitement music fans of the year. After a long wait, amidst many chant’s of “DFA”, we finally saw the two guys who had defined and shaped our musical lives so many years ago. Jessie F Keeler still with his long fringe and almost trademark mustache, a sign that we were in for exactly what we came for, if not more.

They started with “Turn It Out”, which honestly felt like you had been hit in the face with sound. The piano sounded out like a siren, letting us know, Death from Above had arrived. The bass crashed through, alongside the smashing of the drums, Graingers desperate voice led the two across the audience. The crowd quite honestly went wild, in the way the really packed crowds go wild, there was a surge forward, as people rushed to see their heroes. It was at this point my glasses were literally knocked off my face, a proof of “how wild it was”. After “Turn It Out” they played a track off their EP, the effect of which was almost like their second coming, “Dead Womb”. The beginning of this track is known for being used as a sample by Crystal Castles in “Untrust Us”, the alien like voice played like a lullaby over the crowd, with Jessie F Keeler and Sebastian Grainger crashing in once again. The beginning to without a doubt one of the greatest gigs of my life time.

It’s hard to highlight particular bits of the set, something so good can only really be viewed as one thing. Nearly every person in the venue went crazy every time that Keeler and Grainger touched their instruments. However, when “Romantic Rights” came on, the crowd limbered up a little. a circle pit opened up in the middle, with limbs flying in every direction. The build up to the final chorus and the break had adrenaline pumping, its the kind of song that you might want to get pumped up to anyway, put into a live context, it had the audience off the wall.

With the spontaneity of their live plans this year, it’s uncertain whether or not there will be more gigs like this, but if you’re lucky enough to be going to any of the festivals they are appearing at, or the chance to see them comes once again, go for it. You won’t regret it.

WATCH: A recent rehearsal of “Little Girl” – Live, it was like this x100.
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STREAM: “Going Steady” + “Romantic Rights”
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