On the 20th March, almost two months after releasing their innovative third album ‘Marble Skies’, Mercury Prize nominated band Django Django came to Nottingham to play the first sold out show of their tour. The London based quartet put on a thoroughly entertaining show that was impressively both chilled out and highly energetic, simultaneously.
Edinburgh rock duo Man of Moon opened the show with a short set that showcased their intricate psychedelic sound. Second support act Rebecca Taylor, who appears under the band name of Self Esteem, played shortly after with a different and slightly more high energy performance. She made a particularly engaging performance with song ‘Your Wife’, which was produced by Django Django’s very own Dave Mclean. Taylor later made an appearance during Django Django’s set, featuring in ‘Surface to Air’. Both acts shared qualities similar to that of Django Django, which hyped up the crowd as they waited to watch them perform in their first full UK tour since 2015.
Django Django’s setlist was centred around their new music, though it also featured older classics such as ‘Hail Bop’ and ‘Default’. They played a mixture of chilled and more dance orientated tracks, including addictive psych-rock track ‘tic tac toe’. New album ‘Marble Skies’ shows just how versatile Django Django are, with their genre-defying nature being one of the highlights of the gig. The album has been accurately described by NME as ‘A fizzing, furious new wave and disco mash-up’ whilst The Times have reflected upon how ‘The galloping guitars and harmonies recall their first album’. Their ability to smoothly transition between electronic rock, indie rock, nep-psychedelia and pop-synth created a truly individual performance that had everybody dancing from the outset.
Though the venue was quite small and somewhat narrow, which limited the view of the stage at times, it made for a much more intimate atmosphere, in which the audience felt closer to the stage and were able to connect more with each other. Band members consistently playfully interacted with one another on stage, meaning it wasn’t necessary to constantly shout out to the crowd to make their stage presence felt. The four-piece held onto the importance of their visuals to create a highly atmospheric performance space through the psychedelic images and lighting that were projected onto their backdrop throughout the show. The pairing of the psychedelic projections with Tommy Grace’s unique use of synthesisers created a kind of trippy atmosphere that made their set feel otherworldly and almost hypnotising.
Overall, Django Django put on a fun and entertaining show which recalled the dynamic, genre-blending music of their debut album. They also stayed behind for rescue rooms’ club night ‘pressure’ to perform a surprise set for anybody who was lucky enough to be there. Whilst tickets are running low for their remaining tour dates, Django Django are playing at plenty of festivals across Europe over the summer, and it’s definitely worth going along for a boogie.
Photo Courtesy of Sonic PR
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