“What’s with everyone swearing at noon to greet you guys? What the fuck is up Summerfest!? I mean I’m trying to eat my lunch and have to listen to cuss words? Now we’re going to play some rock music for you” It was the most Canadian greeting in Summerfest history to start an evening that was an all-American rock show. The Canadian disco-punk duo, Death From Above 1979, started out with a humble greeting and got right down to playing their distorted rock combination that they are known for. The band lit the stage up with “Always On”, the fans went crazy with head banging. The Uline Warehouse never saw a smaller turnout for a 10 p.m. show, but that didn’t stop frontman, Sebastian Grainger, from having multiple jovial music break conversations with the crowd. After enticing what I can guess was a 150-200 people turnout to go for a ride in his car, he said he’d love to get everyone pregnant with what he described as his “spermy mist”. DFA 1979 went on to absolutely shred fans’ faces off with their Queens of the Stone Age-inspired songs, each song building more excitement for their hits that the fans eagerly awaited for. From “You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine”to “Freeze Me” (a live debut for the band), to “Trainwreck 1979″. Stating “I may have been born in a metaphorical trainwreck, but that fuckin’ guy was clearly born in a trailer park,” pointing to the one guy in the crowd wearing a cowboy hat. For the next hour and a half, the duo made sure to give fans what they wanted; dirty, grungy, distorted drum and bass that didn’t disappoint for one second. So they may not have had a turnout likes of Third Eye Blind, but what Death From Above 1979 lacked in crowd size, completely made up for in amazing sound and heart-pounding rock ‘n roll music.
Setlist:
- Always On
- Right On, Frankenstein!
- Turn It Out
- Virgins
- Cheap Talk
- You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
- Going Steady
- Black History Month
- Caught Up (Live Debut)
- Trainwreck 1979
- Little Girl
- Cold War
- White Is Red
- Freeze Me (Live Debut)
- Dead Womb
- Go Home, Get Down
- Romantic Rights
- Government Trash
- The Physical World