The Funeral March. This is what Dananananaykroyd, the genre-splitting six piece from Glasgow, have snappily entitled their current tour - apt, given the fact this is the band's final tour, a (hopefully) triumphant last hurrah before the band part ways and attempt to live normal lives away from the adoring crowds, sold out shows and the perils of life in a touring pop band.
Having missed first supports These Blue Arms thanks to some horrendous time management, we just about managed to catch More Than Conquerors' final song, a Twin Atlantic style stomper that culminated in the lead singer finishing the song from the abyss that had developed between the crowd and the stage. It felt like lots of bluster for little recognition - it sounded good, however, and made us wish we hadn't spent so long in an off licence trying to distinguish between triple chocolate and standard Mars bars on the way to the venue.
Leeds trio Castrovalva were next up - I had no idea what to expect from them, but they were like nothing I'd ever heard before - lead singer Leemun Smith switches from gangsta rap into falsetto via screams and growls in a way only Mike Patton, Faith No More frontman and voice of Left 4 Dead 2's zombies, no less, seems to manage - it's a wonderfully interesting combination. The juxtaposition of old-school synths and looped sound effects alongside a more traditional bassist-and-drummer pairing is almost Shikariesque, but much less shit - it's a unique style and one that's difficult to comprehend, let alone explain with any clarity. They won't be to everybody's taste, and who knows how they'll translate onto record, but they're definitely worth seeing live.
Barely 10 minutes after Castrovalva roar to a close, Dananananaykroyd take to the stage in a fit of claps, smiles and hugs - lots and lots of hugs. Rifling through a set composed of cult favourites Infinity Milk, Black Wax and The Greater than Symbol and the Hash interspersed with second album 'There Is A Way' tracks such as E Numbers, Muscle Memory and Think and Feel, the gig has a real Greatest Hits feel - and, given the occasion, who would have it any other way? John Baillie Jnr, who shares vocal duties with Calum Gunn, runs around in the crowd, jumps into the front row, hugs anyone who'll reciprocate, and generally seems to have the time of his life - 'And they say our heart's not in it any more!' the band quip. It's true - for a band in its final days, the gig doesn't feel like the funeral march we were sold - it's more of a celebration of a band that has charmed us all since 2006, and the party atmosphere the band brings spreads rapidly to the crowd. From the crouching during the triumphant Watch This! to the provoked clapalong of The Greater than Symbol... to the switching on of the fairylights on the ceiling, the entire room is captivated. By the time the final 'YEAH!' of wonderful set-closer Pink Sabbath is barked, the dream, at least for most of the audience, is over - were it not for yet more hugging to absorb the blow, it's difficult to see how the audience would ever be ablt to forgive them. It felt more like a 'see you around' than a goodbye - for whatever reason, probably financial, this six man hurricane of happiness has been halted - but not without a room full of grins and more hugs than you can shake a stick at.
I urge you, catch them before it's too late. You won't leave the show without a smile, I promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment