It’s an already nicely populated venue that awaits Ontario’s Brandon Williams and friends, AKA Chastity, who have something of an open goal tonight as there is a tangible buzz around The Crossing, the Digbeth venue that, in scale, sits somewhere between its neighbour The Institute’s biggest and mid-sized rooms.
They make the most of the opportunity, doubtless winning over a few new fans in the process, playing highlights from last year’s second album Home Made Satan, which recall something of the sound of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, sharing a similar aesthetic of the challenging alongside more chilled out songs – a highlight being “Heaven Hell Anywhere Else”, from 2018 debut Death Lust, which sounds huge and strikes a chord with those keenly awaiting the headliners.
By the time DIIV take to the stage half an hour later (after intermission music that sounded not unlike a 30 minute take on My Bloody Valentine’s uncompromising ‘Glider’, the room is properly packed out (their last two shows in the city also sold out quickly) and they begin in a slightly low-key fashion with the opener from last year’s brilliant Deceiver, ’Horsehead’, which builds the volume as it goes, ending with a crescendo of shoegaze goodness.
The band set up with guitarist Andrew Bailey centre stage, taking no chances with the cool Birmingham February evening by wearing both a bobble hat and hood, flanked by main man Zachary Cole Smith on guitar and vocals (previously of the also brilliant Beach Fossils) and longtime band mate Colin Caulfield on bass. It seems that DIIV is a band low on ego, with Smith seemingly happy in the wings driving the performance on with little fuss.
It’s that recent record that provides a lot of tonight’s hits, recent single ’Skin Game’ appearing as early as the second track on the set list, a fantastic song which perfectly demonstrates the bitter-sweet melodies of DIIV; it would be a smash in any sane world.
Bailey is not averse to embellishing the band’s sound with a bit of MBV tremolo, especially on the newer material, which has a darker feel to the likes of ‘Bent (Roi’s Song)’ from the last album (the confusingly titled Is The Is Are). Smith announces ‘Take Your Time’ from that same second album with the modest “Here’s some more old shit!”.
The evening’s oldest, and possibly fastest, song, ‘Doused’ from debut album Oshin is greeted with glee and flailing limbs and shows how the band’s sound has evolved since those days (it dates all the way back to 2012). “We’ve been listening to a lot of Birmingham bands while recording the album”, Smith informs the audience, tantalisingly never letting on whether this is Duran Duran, UB40 or perhaps Black Sabbath.
Bassist Caulfield provides sweet backing vocals for the touching ‘Between Tides’ before the upbeat ‘Blankenship’, which could almost be an early New Model Army song, blows away the cobwebs – Bailey even manages to lose the hat such is the fervour created. ’Acheron’ closes the set before the band return to rapturous applause to throw another couple of tasty morsels to the crowd in the shape of ‘Lorelei’ and the Is The Is Are cut ‘Dust’.
They don’t play ‘Dopamine’. Or ‘Out Of Mind’. But they were so good, they are already forgiven. Another triumphant Birmingham night for DIIV.
