Swancore Comes Alive with Dance Gavin Dance
After two nights of less than stellar sleep thanks to the first thunderstorms of the year and an anxious German Shepherd, I found myself a little more tired than usual heading into downtown Minneapolis to catch a show at The Fillmore. To top it off, it was also a Twins home game, and somehow the first time I ran into an MLB game on the same night as a concert at The Fillmore, which added a little stress and questioning of my choices to the mix. With that said, when I inevitably walked into the venue, it felt as though most of the stress melted away and I could settle in for the Minneapolis edition of Dance Gavin Dance’s spring headliner.
First up for the evening was Novelists, a metalcore band hailing from France. It felt like I heard about this band here and there, and I was excited to see what they were all about. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was hooked on Novelists from the start, mesmerized by the vocals and charisma of Camille Contreras and guitar work of both Florestan Durand and Pierre Danel. The band genuinely looked like they were enjoying their time on stage, getting the crowd properly warmed up for the rest of the night, calling for jumping, crowdsurfing, and getting lost in the moment. I selfishly felt like their set was too short, and even though there was still a long night ahead, I wished there was more time for Novelists, as they placed themselves near the top of my favorite openers in recent memory.
Next up for the night was Sacramento’s own Wolf & Bear. Fans of Dance Gavin Dance may have had the opportunity to catch Wolf & Bear open for them on a prior tour (Afterburner or Mothership), or were potentially familiar with the band with the late Tim Feerick splitting time between this band and Dance Gavin Dance. The Blue Swan Records band took the stage and went on to showcase their post-hardcore style to the Minneapolis crowd. The energy was grooving, the crowd was starting to get into a rhythm of moving, and Wolf & Bear were just fun to watch and spend time with. The band took command of the stage with a ferocious and unrelenting catharsis that reverberated through The Fillmore. Wolf & Bear dominated their time on in front of the Minneapolis crowd, and had fans hooked from start to finish.
Post-hardcore band Fall of Troy was the last band to take the stage before the headliners of the night. I’m sure I’ve been able to see this band live before on either a festival or opening for another artist, but I was glad to have the memory of their live experience refreshed. The energetic chaos that was emanating from the stage fit in perfectly with the incredible technical parts of their music, which at times also felt a little chaotic but in a way that scratched a specific itch in the brain. The Washington trio went full send from the very beginning of their set all the way to the end, and the crowd was eating it up, regardless of their familiarity with the music. I found myself enthralled watching drummer Andrew Forsman relentlessly wail on the drums for their entire set, releasing an unmatched energy to the crowd.
Last but certainly not least were the swancore trailblazers Dance Gavin Dance. The band released their latest album “Pantheon” last fall and is finally getting the opportunity to play more of the songs from that record live. With the band’s large discography and the shift in clean vocalists over the years, all while churning out record after record, it has given the band a unique opportunity to change things up a bit in their setlist, which is what they delivered on their spring tour. The band played a handful of songs from “Pantheon,” but also included some deeper cuts like “Carl Barker,” “Elder Goose,” and “Surprise! I’m From Cuba, Everyone Has One Brain,” giving plenty of opportunity for lead clean vocalist Andrew Wells to show off his pipes. While it might seem like vocalist Jon Mess is at times screaming nonsense from the stage (while subjective, honestly sometimes he is, but it adds a whole lot of fun to their music), and guitarist Will Swan and drummer Matt Mingus are vibing on their respective instruments, Wells was like a bullet on the stage, darting around from one end to the other, on and off the risers, a constant wave of energy. The only downside to their set was how short their setlist felt in relation to their massive catalog of music. The band is eleven records deep and Wells confirmed the twelfth is finished and just needs finishing touches, but it was clear the crowd wanted more, even if this is the second time in about a year since the band has played the Twin Cities. All in all, the swancore band put on quite a show for the Minnesota fans, who I’m sure are eagerly awaiting not only the upcoming “Tree City Sessions 3” release, but the forthcoming twelfth record.
