DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 at Nathan Phillips Square, Sunday, July 12. Rating: NNN
Throughout Death from Above 1979’s Sunday night set on the Panamania stage, drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger repeatedly expressed amazement that they’d been booked to play City Hall and surprise at the large turnout. “I know most of you are probably just passing through, about to take the kids to bed,” he cracked at one point, and while he was right that many in the audience had likely never heard of the band before, the crowd was receptive, even to the Toronto dance-punk duo’s noisiest and most aggressive moments.
The first few songs sounded funkier than normal, as it appeared that the clean direct signal of Jesse Keeler’s bass was turned up far louder than the heavily distorted amp sound the band is known for. Once that was corrected, the riffs sounded massively heavy echoing around the square, and more psychedelic as a result of the boomy acoustics. That also occasionally detracted from the tightly wound intensity that they can achieve in smaller indoor settings, playing for crowds of dedicated fans.
music@nowtoronto.com | @benjaminboles
