It's taken me a couple of days to get around to writing this, but then it took Break for Borneo a little while to get around to having a physical release of their CD so I guess we're even. Sort of. If you missed the CD release and haven't downloaded the album yet, you can do it for free right here. The CD release had become part of a 24 hour festival thing at YYT that had kicked off at 3pm and the venue felt pretty festival-ly when I got there in the evening, with people all face-painted up and wearing odd headgear etc. It was the perfect vibe for Break for Borneo's summery feel-good tropical rock and the crowd really got into their performance, which also featured a cameo from Adam Gaensler. Duck Fight Goose had opened the night incidentally, but I got there late and missed their set. I was disappointed to have missed them, but even with them out of the equation, the remaining three bands made for a strong line-up. Rainbow Danger Club followed Break for Borneo and managed to get into the tropical rock theme. An expectant roar went up from the crowd during the opening notes of 'Neighbours on the Rooftop', but it wasn't quite the song they expected - instead, the band performed a reworked version of the track in a reggae-like style.
After that there was a slightly bizarre electronic duo featuring a girl singing and a guy dressed in a red sequin jacket and lots of make-up prancing around on stage to a DJ. Unfortunately for them, the power kept cutting out mid-track and I'm not sure they managed to finish a song for the entire set. Umm, that's about all I know about them I'm afraid, not even sure what they were called.
I didn't really know much about the next band either, but apparently Boys Climbing Ropes have been in Shanghai for a while and play that rock 'n' roll music that the kids seem to like these days. There were certainly a lot of people throwing themselves around like idiots at the front during their set, but that's not the sort of thing you'd catch me doing.
DFG broke out all their new tunes. There is a more accessible, dare i say it, commercial sound to them now. I can't say i could name any of the tunes they played that night but they were still great, particularly the minimal and slow closer they played that night. I will say that if you were in love with them for their layers up layer of delay and quirky time signatures, they might not be your cup of tea any more. For me though, their new direction was just as enjoyable as the madness of 'early' DFG.
Yeah I agree. I think 'more commercial' is exactly how Han Han described it to me himself. Or maybe he said 'more mainstream', but I agree they still sound great