It’s always great to read gig reviews posted on our Facebook page and last week we made it competitive! There were some really great posts from our Facebook followers but we had to pick a winner – Joe Dawson (pictured) , who sent in a review from a recent Darwin Deez gig. You can check out all reviews on our Facebook page under the ‘Reviews’ section, but here is Joe’s winning post…
Darwin Deez – Black Heart, Camden, 13th April 2010
Introducing Darwin Deez, an American Indie folk band from New York City that have rhythm like The Strokes and the personality of Flight of the Conchords. I have only recently been introduced to Flight of the Conchords, the ‘angry dance’ could definitely be on the blueprint. You may be familiar with Darwin Deez’s second single Radar Detector which has been play listed on Radio 1 lately. I arrived at the Black Heart and headed upstairs to The Allotment, and I instantly noticed Darwin with his trademark variable-length curly hair complete with a headband walking amongst the fans gathering inside. I secured a position at the front and waited as Extradition Order, supporting act for the evening, prepared for their performance.
Eventually, Darwin appears through the capacity crowd and with the anticipation building, the Darwin Deez, accompanied with 80’s pop songs take to the stage. I’m not exactly a dancer, although I have practised moves with my partner and children, but I couldn’t compete with the Deez. They performed several daft synchronised dance routines that were inspirational. Not just during the introduction either, several times they combined together to dance and swing their arms around. This wasn’t an ordinary performance but then they aren’t your average band! Up In The Clouds started the set, Constellations and Deep Sea Divers followed in a Julian Casablancas-esque monotone.
Entwined with the dance routines, set to mixes including Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Do The Bart Man, they performed several songs from the album. I enjoyed Bed Space but the biggest cheer came when Radar Detector started – Darwin welcomed the crowd as everyone began singing the chorus! They returned for a brief encore: this included a dance routine and finished with The Bomb Song. The foursome ran into the crowd during the finale and finally ended up piled on the stage, greeted with cheers and admiration.
If this has whetted your appetite for more then you can catch Darwin Deez playing a variety of festivals across the UK this summer including Reading and Leeds. Darwin Deez will also play Manchester Academy3 in October. Check out Darwin Deez’s recent single Up In The Clouds