The DMA’s return to Glasgow and reinforce the strong connection they have with their Scottish fanbase with an emotive performance at the O2 Academy.
The DMA’s have been on my list of bands I’ve wanted to see live since hearing there outstanding cover of ‘Believe’, especially in Glasgow as they’ve made no secret of their great connection with Scottish fans. They did not disappoint. Performing in front of a sold-out audience in the O2 Academy, the venue was packed with little to no room to manoeuvre around, the crowd packed in like sardines from front to back. There’s a huge buzz in the air, and this could be felt even on the walk to the venue with a multitude of artfully sculpted mullets and DMA’s football tops marching over the Clyde towards the Academy.
The Aussie trio, comprising of lead singer Tommy O’Dell, Johnny Took on acoustic guitar and Matt Mason on electric guitar wasted no time getting onto the stage. Receiving a huge cheer from the crowd they broke into ‘How many dreams?’ from there latest album, it was amazing to hear this being sung back to band even though it was only released at the beginning of the month.
The energy from the trio was infectious from the start with Took crouching down to get a good look at the audience, the huge grin on his face suggests he liked what he saw. This was followed up by ‘Olympia’ another great track from their new album, Masons’ guitar riff at the beginning of the song got the crowd jumping. A single spotlight picks out O’Dell, creating the the perfect setting for massive hit ‘Silver’. This was by far the best received song of the night with everyone screaming the lyrics back at the stage. It was clear the trio felt the love from the Glasgow crowd and thanked them for being a huge part of the band’s journey. ‘Hello Girlfriend’ was another excellent track with the band playing an extended outro giving the crowd a chance to release some energy and singing with the band. At this point O’Dell wrapped himself in a saltire which is fitting as the band have confessed that Scotland is like a second home to them. Hard to argue with him, this being their third visit to the city in 10 months! Before a short encore it was time for ‘Lay me down’ which was amazing to hear Masons guitar solo live, it is so touching to see how much songs like these mean to the artists singing them live. The encore was filled with a mix of older tracks and ended on their anthem to escapism from the drudgery ‘Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend’, an excellent song to end an excellent night with another dance and sing from the crowd.
It was refreshing to hear the band play a new song to start and finish the gig, it felt like a full circle moment and great testament to the strength of the new material. As someone who did not listen to DMA’s frequently that will change as this was an excellent gig and seeing them live allowed me to appreciate them more than I did prior.
Words and pictures: Mark Gillies @magphoto__