Nieve O’Donnell
With the absence of support act Dead Poets Society, Demob Happy took to the renowned Nottingham Bodega stage to emphasise that they were going to make up for it. That they certainly did. Nieve O’Donnell shares her full thoughts…
Initially lacking the energy that is typically fostered by a solid opening act, Demob’s opening relinquished any kind of hesitancy in the crowd. Over the years, including four tours in America in 2019, Demob Happy have grown a live show and stage presence which meets all the criteria for fans wanting a taste of the band’s riff-heavy and, more recently, synth-influenced tracks. Nottingham’s Bodega crowd were more than ready to be in the throws of Demob Happy’s melodic, fuzzy and grunge-infused pop-rock.
testament to the band’s ability to let the music speak for itself
Whilst presenting their roster of well-made tracks from 2019’s ‘Holy Doom’ and 2015’s ‘Dream Soda’ such as Less Is More, Succubus and Man You’re Wrong, the band maintain a humble modesty which is testament to the band’s ability to let the music speak for itself. The band’s relaxed on-stage presence shows their musicianship and ability to simply enjoy being back on tour and playing to a crowd. The band need little to prove that they could and likely will play their anthemic grunge-pop/rock melodies on much bigger stages in the future.
Still, having them at the Nottingham mainstay Bodega felt appropriate. An intimate crowd welcomed Demob Happy back with open arms. Kicking off the party well, moshpits ensued almost instantly and souls were launched into the crowd via stage dives. Demob Happy know how to entertain such a crowd and it seemed as though the band were equally enthused to be back on stage again. The band visited their classics and dipped their toe into some of their new music. It seemed as though a shared experience was occurring between crowd members and the band, some of whom would have been visiting their first live act since before March 2020.
teasing that the new album would’ve been out already had circumstances been different
Acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic, like the rest of the music industry Demob Happy have been affected by lockdown restrictions and a lack of live music. The band not only debuted new released music but a couple of unreleased tracks, teasing that the new album would’ve been out already had circumstances been different. Sympathy Boy and Hades, Baby are among the band’s new releases and paralleling the energy of the crowd so far, Demob were able to get fans excited for even more new music and – fingers crossed – another tour quite soon.
Frontman Matt – towards the end of the headline set – gave a message that was followed by a unanimous roar of agreement: ‘Let’s never let live music be taken away from us for so long again’ before rounding things off by ripping into fan favourite Autoportrait.
Nieve O’Donnell
Featured image courtesy of Oli Zitch via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @demob_happy via instagram.com. No changes were made to these images.
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