DIIV + CHASTITY – CHALK, BRIGHTON 29.02.20
We battled our way in the freezing cold driving wind and rain along to the popular CHALK concert venue in Brighton in order to check out DIIV and their support act Chastity. I swear I haven’t been this cold all year, and so the beers were put on hold until the half time break so to speak.
I had the pleasure of witnessing the only previous appearance by DIIV in Brighton (that I know of), which was at the Concorde 2 on 23rd September 2016, in support of the then latest unusually titled second album ‘Is The Is Are’. It was a rescheduled date from 28th March 2016, which was initially to be held at The Haunt, which ironically has now become CHALK.
This previous 2016 concert will always be remembered by myself and my colleague, as there was an up and coming band at the bottom of the three act billing that night, that we instantaneously knew they would be on a meteoric rise to stardom, as they totally blew everyone’s socks off. At the very end of this band’s set, both myself and my colleague turned to each other and funnily enough, said the exact thing at the exact same time, those words being “What the f**k just happened!”. The band in question was IDLES. Nuff said!
Would tonight’s support, Chastity, be doing the same? Whilst waiting for the band to appear, the punters were subject to a musical hum across the PA. Yes really, a drone and no music. Was this to build tension and set the darkened mood? Probably?
Chastity took to the darkened stage at 7:33pm and announced that they were from Whitby, but the one in Canada. The five people then fiddled around for two minutes with their equipment, drums, two guitars and bass, which was eventually accompanied by vocals. Callum had the worst technical difficulties with his guitar. The venue at the beginning of their set was only half full despite the concert selling out. Not the ideal start to the last date on the UK leg of their 25-date European tour.
Every concert that I have attended at CHALK, has had the benefit of crisp sound so far, until tonight. I would hazard a guess and suggest that the band’s had possibly brought along their own sound guy, as the vocals were regularly lost in the mix, which was compounded with the tall vocalist holding the microphone some distance from his mouth. He was drowned out by his band. They were at times the heavier side of indie with a nod or two to Green Day. Despite all of the setbacks, the forgiving Brighton audience seemed to really enjoy their set. But they really didn’t do anything for me, sadly.
Find out more HERE.
We were served the same musical drone in between acts. The bar beckoned. Headliners, DIIV were due on stage at 8:35pm as there was a 10pm curfew. They took to the stage a few minutes late, but I had once again secured my position right at the front, where I had previously been stationed.
DIIV were in Brighton on their ‘Deceiver’ tour, ‘Deceiver’ being their third and latest album release. It’s a 10 track long player with the most exciting format being the mixed coloured vinyl edition that was limited to a mere 2000 copies worldwide. The vibe for this latest album is heavier than previous outings and reflects the various influences ranging from Unwound and Elliot Smith to True Widow and Neurosis. The band enlisted producer Sonny Diperri (My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Protomartyr), his presence dramatically expanded the sonic palette, making it richer and fuller than ever before. It marks a change of direction for DIIV. Main man and guitar/vocalist Zachary Cole Smith (stage right/our left) has also ‘re-invented’ himself and traded in his surf dude haircut (as sported at the Concorde 2 in 2016) for a more closely shaven look.
DIIV was initially called Dive (after a 1992 Nirvana song) and was originally a solo project born in the Brooklyn bedroom of Zachary Cole Smith in 2011. But Smith decided to change the band name so as not to be confused with Belgian industrial artist Dirk Ivens’ solo project of the same name. When I saw them in 2016 their live lineup consisted of Smith on vocals and guitar, Devin Ruben Perez (bass), Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield (keyboards, guitar) and Ben Newman (drums). However, the latest ‘Deceiver’ album was recorded by Zachary Cole Smith (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield (bass), and Ben Newman (drums). This could quite possibly be tonight’s lineup.
They begin with a quieter number ‘Horsehead’ which was one of eight tunes
from the 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album being played this evening. The lighting is still relatively dark and moody and so the band have their own interesting take on providing some in order to see their foot pedals. Smith has a long torchlight, whereas the guy in front of me stage left/crowd right has an ioniser that lights up and puffs scent.
Their set moves on in a flower power meets Nirvana style and yet again the vocals are well down in the mix. They are a relaxed melodic bunch who are offering up some enjoyable shoegaze material. Smith addresses the crowd (which wasn’t very often) and states that they have enjoyed this trip the most. It’s clear that there is some chemistry between the band mates, particularly near the end when two of them try and kick each other whilst playing – schoolboy stuff but entertaining.
It’s lucky number seven for me, as DIIV perform my fave track of theirs namely ‘Doused’ which is found on 2012 ‘Oshin’ album, as their seventh live track of thirteen this evening. It seems that I’m not alone and I swear this was the most boisterous mosh of the night. Some getting carried away throwing the £5 beer over others with one landing centre of the stage. I was indeed ‘Doused’ in beer. Unfortunately this was the only number from ‘Oshin’ that they played this evening. Plus they did not play other classics ‘Under The Sun’, ‘How Long Have You Known?’ and ‘Dopamine’.
Sadly they didn’t hold my attention for every song. Thus I had to entertain myself by watching the amusing facial expressions of the guy in the middle of the stage as he played his instrument. He would contort it and move his eyes to the side in a Ron Mael kind of way – That’s the guy on keyboards in Sparks.
Then they thanked the sound engineer called Dave (Ah ha, so that’s who to blame) and launched into the penultimate number ‘Acheron’ from ‘Deceiver’. Part the way in, Smith decides to stop the track, stating that it doesn’t sound right. After a conflab during which the whole tempo was lost, they then had another go and finished it and briefly wandered off stage, only to return for the planned one song encore ‘Dust’, which rescued the situation with a guitar frenzy and accompanying mosh. At 9:59pm that was it.
The crowd really enjoyed them, despite the technical difficulties, which is the sign of a true fan. Standing immediately behind me were a gang that had specially travelled down from Guildford to see DIIV, with one of them being in a young band called The Keep Cats, who incidentally I saw perform live only a few nights before. The Keep Cats had more oomph than both of tonight’s bands and so I would recommend to anyone that attended tonight to check out this exciting new prospect.
DIIV setlist:
‘Horsehead’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Skin Game’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Bent (Roi’s Song)’ (found on 2016 ‘Is The Is Are’ album)
‘Like Before You Were Born’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Taker’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Take Your Time’ (found on 2016 ‘Is The Is Are’ album)
‘Doused’ (found on 2012 ‘Oshin’ album)
‘Healthy Moon’ (found on 2016 ‘Is The Is Are’ album)
‘For The Guilty’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Between Tides’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Blankenship’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
‘Acheron’ (found on 2019 ‘Deceiver’ album)
(encore)
‘Dust’ (found on 2016 ‘Is The Is Are’ album)
More on DIIV HERE.
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