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Writer's pictureTristan Phipps

DMA’s @ Rock City

There’s something special about the opening night of a tour. There’s also a certain excitement when a band releases their second album – to great anticipation. Put the two together in England’s finest live music venue, and you have one hell of a show.There is no more cliché a phrase than saying there was an electric atmosphere, but in a sold-out Rock City, there was an almighty buzz in the air (pardon the pun) as fans young and old awaited the young lads from Sydney to grace the stage.


Wasting no time at all, DMA’s crusaded into their set with old classic ‘Feels like 37’ – in turn the crowd deciding to crank up the energy levels. It only seems right that I talk about the crowd in this review: rarely do I see a set of fans with such passion, energy and comradery. Sure, there’s the odd muppet in a parka who’s no doubt sweating though his Fred Perry polo, but I take my hat off to the fans who kept up the pace for the full hour and a half.


Playing a mixture of their exciting new material and older fan favourites, there was something for every DMA’s fan to get excited about. Personally, ‘Timeless’ was a highlight: the final guitar riff sounded better live than I could have ever imagined, and I’m sure a large proportion of the audience would back me up on that. Additionally, tracks from their new album, ‘For Now’, went down an absolute treat: ‘Warsaw’ sounding particularly delicious. Words may never do it justice, but if it wasn’t the summery guitars that would get you, it’d be the smooth chorus. Other tracks that resonated well with the crowd was ‘Break Me’ – a mighty anthem which Liam Gallagher himself cited as ‘biblical’, and ‘For Now’ – a guitar driven, Kasabian-esque track with enough swagger to fire up even the most lethargic of audiences.


DMA’S have got quite the summer ahead of them. After finishing their UK Tour, the Neighbourhood Weekender awaits them, where they’ll play alongside the likes of Noel Gallagher­ – no doubt a man of great inspiration to a band proud to say they listened to Britpop when few others in Sydney did. Furthermore, on the 29thof June they’ll take to Finsbury Park alongside the great Liam Gallagher in what’ll no doubt be both a humbling and electrifying moment for the three-piece.


Here at the Mic there is no shortage of DMA’s fans. Maybe it’s the fact they are a hardworking band who’ve always stuck to their roots, or the fact they are a distinctive and clean sound in a cluttered and busy genre – but as they aim to break the UK album chart top 20 for the first time, there’s never been a better time to be a fan of these cool as you like Aussie rockers. And if I haven’t stressed it enough, seriously, listen to Warsaw.


Image courtesy of Daniel Boud.


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