Images: Death From Above 1979, Biblical November 15, 2014 at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas

Death From Above 1979 has always been surrounded by mystery for me. It’s so hard to believe it’s only two guys – especially since their long hiatus resulted in me never getting to see them play live. Their sound is like nobody before them, expertly mixing the danciness of Gang of Four with the all-out rock of MC5. Plus they have this heavy fuzz bass that feeds into fast groove paced drums that I really love. So how would their live show stack up to my expectations?

Death from Above 1979 is a sight to see. Dynamic, personal, dark, and moody, they play with a confident swagger that you don’t often see with modern bands outside of maybe The Rapture of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They only slightly involve the audience with some call and response, but they mostly play it cool and detached, like rock stars of old. Most of the time you’re just watching these two guys intensely get into their music in the best possible way, giving it all in their performance. They focused mostly on the recently-released The Physical World with “Right On, Frankenstein!,” “Cheap Talk” and “Trainwreck 1979” among the highlights, but I was happy to hear old favorites including “Turn it Out,” and “Going Steady,” and of course, the “Romantic Rights” encore.

I had no idea that Biblical was opening the show, so I was in for one of the greatest surprises ever. I love heavy-prog stoner rock, and seeing them was like going to church. They walked out onto a completely dark stage, and ripped into two songs that were almost 10 minutes each, which every photographer limited to shooting three songs loves. These guys were taking guitar and bass solos left and right, reading each other in the moment to decide where the song was going to go next. Biblical is hugely underrated, but I think they picked up a lot of fans this night because the crowd was digging it. Check out their album on their bandcamp (you won’t find them on Spotify).

-Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens