DZ DEATHRAYS @ Ding Dong Lounge – April 13th

Jacobo Arenas April 16, 2013 Comments Off

Upon confirmation that I was heading out to see DZ Deathrays on their Teenage Kickstarts tour, I came to the realisation I hadn’t been to Ding Dong Lounge since an unfortunate accident two years ago. After a long time between drinks it felt good going to visit an old friend with new tricks.

Making my way into the band room I was greeted by Super Best Friends making their billionaire boys club well known – they’ve got it all but want some more. Their straight-up loud garage tunes warmed the moderately sized crowd that begun to fill the room, encouraging movement with some lively call and response play between vocals and guitar. They announced that they planned to record in the next couple of days, and upon the presentation of a Korg keyboard they dove straight into another jam that recalled VCR mixed with Bass Drum of Death . With a cheeky smile from their bassist they were done for the night.

When you’ve played in bands as long as Lachlan Ewbank of Damn Terran , you’re bound to have some stage presence, and along with brother Leigh Ewbank, and bassist Ali Edmonds , the band has it in spades. A rhythmic intro with guitar and pounding on either side of the stage was a sight to see. A constant stream of energy saw Lachlan swaying to the point of nearly falling over, yet never quite taking the fall. Ali was brimming with an aura of cool in the middle of it all, playing basslines that worked their way into your head and refuse to get out. It’s no wonder that punters were spilling in from the front room to check it out.

They smashed out tunes ranging from all-out noise explosions to treading between quieter riffs then bursting into almost metal-type chugging moments that gave depth to the songs. A beer nervously sat behind Lachlan as he bounced near and over it through songs like ‘ Pills ’ and their tribal beast ‘ Rebels ’. It spilt at the peak of the latter. But not to worry, two more were on standby. A roar followed their final song, the crowd happy with their performance, all primed and ready for more.

DZ Deathrays are one of the hardest touring bands in Australia at the moment. They’re constantly overseas and touring nationally, slogging to build their name. Growing crowds welcome them each time they come through town, so their hard work is definitely paying off. Two skeletal reaper-type mascots with D and Z on their shrouds sat on the wall behind them, one grooving to the vibe of the restless crowd whilst the other seemed happy just to be there. Holding the crowd at breaking point, Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley came out and jumped straight into ‘ Cops Capacity ’ with the crowd letting loose and the pit becoming an instant party zone.

A new song called ‘ Face Crusher ’ whet the crowd’s appetite for new material. Whilst it definitely sounded like a DZ Deathrays tune, there’s no sign of progression – it needed something extra to elevate them further. From the crowd’s response though, all’s good in the world as they continued to bounce around.

The security were no match for the power of a DZ crowd, with kids sneaking behind the stage guards and stage diving past them to the point where they really couldn’t do anything about it and divers thew themselves all over the place. One overly excited lad fell on Shane’s pedal board, disconnecting all guitar from the mix. Simon’s instant drum solo kept the rhythm going so it did not seem like a rare occurrence for the band. Their band manager rushed on to fix the guitar and dived off the stage as the roar of guitar echoed through the room.

Playing through a plethora of tunes including old songs like ‘ Teeth ’ and crowd favourites like ‘ Gebbie Street ’ and ‘ No Sleep ’, DZ Deathrays weren’t short of a catalogue to play, and the only real misstep of the night was the encore, when Shane paced about on stage waiting for what seemed to be a set amount of time before the others came back on for one more song. It seemed forced, yet the chants belting “ONE MORE SONG” really showed they had the room in the palms of their hands.

Populatity soaring, DZ Deathrays show no signs of slowing down. Both Shane and Simon’s instrumental skills are at the highest they’ve been in their careers and all ears are twitching to hear what brutality they have in store for us on their next album.