Words by Dylan Bryant
I’m going to dive right in by saying this may have taken the top spot as my favourite gig since live music returned post pandemic.
Taking my brother as my plus one, I was lucky enough to get last minute tickets to watch DMA’s play an incredible set filled to the brim with amazing indie/rock anthems that had the crowd on their feet in the iconic Alexandra Palace in North London.
Starting the set with ‘Never Before’, energy was injected right from the off; proving that the band were more than capable of playing such an established venue.
With atmospheric phased funky guitars and groovy drum beats, the music was reminiscent of the iconic Madchester sound and bands such as ‘The Stone Roses’, ‘Oasis’ and ‘The Charlatans’ instantly sprung to mind.
It was evident that DMA’s have a large cult following of fans, who were all dressed in the same ‘casuals’ attire and sang along to every lyric word for word.
When the three-piece band made up of Tommy O’Dell, Matt Mason, and Johnny Took launched into ‘The Glow’ – a feel-good indie track, the crowd reacted while the band took it in their stride with their cool, relaxed stage presence and casual ‘Aussie’ rapport.
With DMA’s hailing from Sydney, Australia, this gig felt particularly significant for me, because exactly two years ago I was in Sydney visiting my brother just before the pandemic took over our lives and here we were, two years later seeing one of our favourite bands together playing their first post pandemic show in London.
The band’s set list offered a versatile sound. Tracks such as ‘Lay Down’ raised the energy with its pounding drums and shredding guitars against tracks such as ‘In the Air’ which were softer, showing off the band’s song writing talent. Every song they played was a hit and extremely well received by their 10,000+ fans in attendance.
A personal favourite was when the band played ‘Silver’ which was fifth on the set-list. It is one of their most popular songs and it was pretty special listening to the crowd sing along with the repeating lyrics – “How do I redefine, All my love for you? I guess I look to the sun with you, Look to the sun with you”.
When the band played ‘In the Moment’, Tommy O’Dell’s incredible vocals, proved to be a literal description as the fans danced and showed their appreciation and although big hits such as ‘Step Up the Morphine’ and their extremely popular cover of Cher’s ‘Believe’ were left off the set; the crowd didn’t seem to mind, after all, DMA’s did give us a substantial 18 songs.
Another personal highlight was when they played ‘Delete’. With its huge outro of overlapping vocals and big acoustic chords. This track prompted the traditional ritual of people jumping on their friend’s shoulders and pulling out their phone torches, whilst belting out the lyrics ‘Just let it all out’.
A special mention must go to the support bands ‘RATS’ and ‘The Night Café’ who both played a tight and impressive set and were the perfect warm up for DMA’s.
It was an amazing night of live music with a truly special atmosphere with flares and beer being launched during the band’s biggest songs.
Thanks to the ‘Aussie’ rockers for putting on an incredible show and good luck with the rest of the tour – it was definitely worth getting a £20 train fine for. (didn’t realise my railcard had expired!)
Check out DMA’s set list on our Spotify.