DIIV at Brooklyn Steel
June 23, 2022
I love it when a hunch plays out well.
I wrote about my intro to DIIV’s music a couple months ago https://jeffrey-farin.medium.com/music-discovery-diiv-3c0057bfe289. They’ve got an upbeat style, with easy, smooth guitars that sounds like a bluesy version of surf music. Their catalog, over ten years in the making, is a great collection of soft melodies and hard rockers.
My wife Christine, who’s in love with Chris Martin, says they sound like Coldplay. But screw that, she doesn’t know anything about music. And I can’t stand anything by Coldplay.
Tonight I got so see them live in Brooklyn, which I guess counts as a home game for this crew, who are from these parts. Brooklyn is two ferries and an Uber away, but I was betting it would be worth the trip. It was.
Based on the DIIV (pronounced “Dive”, by the way) music I’d been listening to, I was expecting a relatively mellow night at Brooklyn Steel. Pretty much wrong on that.
The four DIIV guys look like a pack of surfer dudes somehow on the wrong coast. Their set was preceded by a video of ocean waves, and over their performance we were treated to a slew of videos, images, doodlings, and other artwork organized by the band.
Their first set was a celebration of the ten-year anniversary of their album “Oshin”, which they played in its 13-song entirety. That album features the song, “Doused”, which was the song that first got me hooked to to group.
After a short, ten-minute break, they blasted out another 11 songs, including pretty much every song that I like in their library: Under The Sun. Out of Mind. Taker. And my favorite, Blankenship.
DIIV was tight. Any of their three guitarists could easily front the band, and they effortlessly interchanged lead roles and singing responsibilities. They were super smooth, and had it all together musically. And they couldn’t have been more gracious with the Brooklyn Steel throng that came out for them. An emotional Zachary Cole Smith, who founded the band and is primary front man, said, “We’re celebrating ten years of Oshin, and we’re still playing. This never happens in this business.”
The crowd had a ton of energy. Less of a mosh pit, and more of a wave pool, moving and bouncing around with the group’s melodies and riffs. But (mercifully) civilized and less violent than others I’ve experienced at that venue (I’m looking at you, Distillers!).
DIIV came to play. And play. And play some more. They gifted the audience with about two solid hours of their best music, and the audience roared its approval every time a song ended. Overall a tremendous concert experience.
Here’s a sampler of their best material:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1bJ4uqkjAybU0mnBhkr7O6?si=TKEPMKakSxuNxypIK4kw9A
The opening act, Widowspeak, is another band from Brooklyn, a five-piece led by singer and guitarist Molly Hamilton. Very easy listening, and their set was pretty solid. They have a similar sound to Orville Peck, with bright guitars opposite soulful melodies and lyrics. Here’s a sampler of their material:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3u7BnTuq3N7waqArBF7o2M?si=Ycf47OVqQ-uMTaAoDYrIxw