Having announced only two dates in Birmingham and Manchester alongside their performance at London’s Field Day it was no surprise that the venue was packed early, for DIIV’s sold out show.
The night’s support came from local band Chartreuse [7/10]. The quartet seemed perfectly matched to the headline band’s sound with sun-drenched, lo-fi guitar riffs and melodic vocals, revelling in a blend of soul-pop and indie. Building from delicate sounds to energetic dancing and drumming, the band managed to entice the crowd, and whilst the audience wasn’t all that energetic, they did appear somewhat mesmerised.
Hare and Hounds is a small venue where there is no direct backstage and there are no barriers between crowd and stage, therefore to reach the stage the band must head through the audience. Walking through DIIV [9/10] went barely unnoticed, blending in with the rest of the skater kids making up the audience. Humbly sound checking and setting up themselves, the band appeared completely at ease on the stage. Frontman and vocalist Zachary Cole Smith, seemed to embody their surf rock as he stood in a dress length shirt, with his long dyed locks piled up on his head and hanging down over his eyes. By style and sound they’re a band that surely can’t be anythiaid back.
“Hi we’re DIIV from New York City”, muttered Smith, a sentence that was then uttered before almost every track. Introducing a new song, they delved into a set predominately comprised of new tracks from their upcoming second album ‘Is The Is Are.’ The new material still resonated with the escapist, dream pop of 2012’s ‘Oshin’, but perhaps marked a heavier and darker tone than that of their debut, showing a progression during their three year break from releasing music. Having placed his beanie over the mic, Smith delivered his dazed and airy vocals over to the already delighted and enthused audience.
It was clear that the crowd consisted of fans of the band’s early work, as the crowd surged with energy as the Brooklyn five-piece leapt into ‘How Long Have You Known?’ Despite the track being one of their quieter and more serene, pits were evoked from front, to back, which made it seem slightly odd that an older track hadn’t been chosen to open the set. Other known tracks ‘Sometime’ and ‘Oshin’ were also clear highlights from the set, but the mixing of old and new, demonstrated why it’s time to get excited about DIIV all over again.
Hardly interacting with the audience, the band appeared so immersed in their own music, which made every lyric all the more heartfelt. With a cult-like following, DIIV’s fans always appear completely and totally dedicated to the band and tonight all their worshipping seemed worthwhile, as the five delivered all their jangling guitar plucks and shimmering drum beats to the highest execution.
Smith went on to thank the crowd and announced that it was “the best of the tour so far”, something which the guitarist nodded passionately in agreement with. Finishing on crowd favourite ‘Doused’ it was impossible for anyone not to be swept into the forceful carnage of the crowd, as arms and legs flew everywhere and movement rippled throughout the venue. The thick bass lines and reverbing guitar riffs make it their heaviest track to date and inevitably the crowd lost it.
Swiftly but gracefully moving from track to track, with no encore and no frills, the concert was more of a showcase of new material as opposed to a show, but it was dreamy delight of that and explained exactly why fans had stuck with them through their years of absence and exactly why they will continue to stick with them.
