“D, D, DMA’s! D, D, DMA’s!”
Okay, this one was always going to be a rager. When Australian rockers DMA’s are in town, it’s always going down. A fact best exemplified at this gig by the fight that broke out just before the band came on. When indie music’s on the cards, the tempers can fly. And with the ShowSec army rushing through the crowd to throw out the brawlers, the lights dropped down, pints went flying, and a pulsing green light emanated from the stage.
“HERE WE, HERE WE, HERE WE FUCKING GO!”
Stepping out the baying crowd and the pulsating noise of opening track “Never Before”, DMA’s were as immaculately indie styled as ever. Acoustic guitarist Johnny Took wore a baggy, cross-covered shirt to compliment his bleach blonde mullet whilst guitarist Matt Mason rocked a baseball cap and overshirt combo fit for any indie-head. But it was frontman Tommy O’Dell’s Liam-Gallagher-esque anorak and jeans outfit, complete with a tambourine stick for full Oasis vibes, that took the audience by storm as he struck into the opening lyrics of their set.
Now DMA’s are an interesting band. Their fanbase goes across the age range of all indie lovers, with the crowd a mix of balding men and bucket-hat-clad teens. This probably led to the strange energy in the room. With the flexing, moving mass of people, there was never really enough space and movement for the mosh pits that the Dirty MA’s are known for, largely due to the older shift in the crowd, especially in the earlier part of the set. Some of the jangly tunes like “The Glow” and “Dawning”, fell flat because of this, and would be more suited to the open fields of a summer indie fest than the indoors of an O2 Academy.
Despite a slightly underwhelming mid-section of the concert, complete with some slightly too long guitar solos, the show did conclude in glorious style, with “Tape Deck Sick” signalling the start of the bangers. With this also came the eventual appearance of the pits and the sweatiness everyone had been waiting for.
With the heightened energy from the crowd, the DMA’s got into their stride, with Johnny Took and Matt Mason leading the crowd through the bigger, and frankly better, tunes in their catalogue. From “Hello Girlfriend” to “Delete”, each song further electrifying the crowd into a maddening frenzy. The chaos kept up through to the final song, “Play It Out”, before DMA’s stepped off the stage to give the crowd a breather.
Stepping back out to rapturous noise, each member of the band drank in the sound before heading into a manic encore of “Appointment”, “Lay Down”, and ever-rowdy “Feels Like 37”, climaxing with smoke bombs and more moshing, adding to an exhaustingly mad but thrilling evening.
All in all, it was a madness of an evening. The crowd’s continuous energy was unrivalled, even when the music was relatively lacking, and is a testament to the DMA’s faithful. It was an enjoyable event, but I can imagine that it would be nothing on seeing DMA’s at a festival.
Rating: 3/5
