New York’s Darwin Deez, here as part of the Groovin’ The Moo ensemble, know how to read their crowd. A horde gathered at The Hi-Fi on Friday night and made themselves hoarse shouting out the lyrics to the songs off the band’s debut album. No matter what mood you were in after the working week, this was a night of wide smiles, handclaps and a whole load of great pop hooks.
I’d always assumed Darwin Deez were simply a solo act, but this live show revealed them as a full band. Despite his hypnotic, oversized jumper and silly hair, the focus wasn’t just on Deez, the frontman. The rest of the band commanded attention with their onstage presence too – particularly the guitarist, who was really getting into it.
Kicking off with most recent single Up In The Clouds, the setlist was Darwin Deez on shuffle and all of the songs hit the mark in a live setting. But how exactly do you pad out a show that covers a single album without to resorting to extended guitar solos? Deez tagged a bit of Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al onto the end of the dreamy Bed Space, plus there was a brief rap that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Other than that, the band dropped tools on several occasions and delivered tongue-in-cheek dance sequences to mash-ups covering everything from Enya to Miike Snow. It sounds naff, I know, but it added brilliantly to the party atmosphere and further broke down any band-audience barrier without the need for between-song small talk.
Considering Darwin Deez was released more than a year ago, it would have been a plus to hear some new material, perhaps even just one of the album’s bonus tracks. The crowd didn’t seem to mind though – by the last riffs of set closer Constellations, they were whipped into such a fervor that they would have happily sang their way through another round of the album.
Liked: The endearing musicians and the enthusiastic crowd.
Disliked: Some stranger trying to force me to clap. I’m just not a clapper, okay?
Drank: Fat Yak Pale Ale
