Darkness and grime cover the street as Phoenix denizens descended on the Crescent Ballroom. The reason for the gathering: DIIV. The New York native, Zachary Cole Smith brought a full band to play dream pop tunes to a sizable crowd.
Earlier in the night, Sunflower Beans plucked through a psychedelic-punk trip. The Brooklyn trio had the task of warming up the crowd for the rest of the night. Weaving song after song of dizzying rock soundscapes into the hum of the steadily growing audience, the group managed to craft already existing songs into a pleasant surprise for members of the crowd. The band also played new songs off their album due out in February 2016. Sunflower Beans are definitely a band to look out for in the future given the great promise they showed playing live.
The next band up was No Joy. Hailing from Quebec, the alternative band had some technical difficulties throughout the show. Feedback issues cropped up before the performance began, which caused enough of a delay that people started to get antsy. Once the group resolved the issue, they blasted out shoegaze tunes to the now sizable crowd. While the music was enjoyable, the band never got the energy back from the people afte noticeably long moments between songs during the set.
@nojoy slaying it pic.twitter.com/vrKFqOF5iR
— Derek Loche (@DMLoche) October 29, 2015
DIIV wasted no time in establishing their personality on stage by playing one minute of a song then calling it a night. Right after the joke, the band pretended to leave the stage before returning to their instruments. The moment they returned, they were ready to play as many songs as possible. The group slammed through fan favorites while playing new songs, too. Songs like “Dopamine” displayed a unique balance between maturity and emotion and the crowd loved the song.
@DIIV dopamine live pic.twitter.com/qF45cMIVet
— Derek Loche (@DMLoche) October 29, 2015
DIIV established their visual aspect of the show by using a video of what appeared to be digitally manipulated VHS to create an aged and edgy vibe as the group went from song to song. The effect earned some appreciation from the crowd, but it wasn’t very noticeable for most of the show. Regardless, the large crowd seemed to enjoy themselves as the headliners put on a solid show and, ultimately, a good night.
Reach the reporter at dloche@asu.edu or follow @DMLoche on Twitter.
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