The Robot Returns to Toronto With Dance Gavin Dance
Dance Gavin Dance first introduced their character of “the robot with human hair” in 2006 with their album “Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean”. Now, almost 20 years later and after the “death” of the Robot, it returned to Toronto at History on May 29th on the Return of the Robot tour.
Dwellings, the first band to the stage, brought a crashing, classic rock sound to the edges of the venue. Throughout, the Sacramento alternative rock band was seen running around the stage and interacting with the crowd. A final, classic rock cover of “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz would bring Dwellings’ set to a close and leave the air buzzing with excitement.
There’s just something about the second band in a lineup being something special. Belmont, a heavy pop-punk band hailing from Chicago, was certainly no exception to this rule. From their first song to their last, there were loads of kicks and jumps from every member of the band, and frontman Taz Johnson encouraged the crowd to “move their motherfucker”. They played songs with amazing riffs such as “SSX Trickmont”, “Liminal”, and even played their newest song, “In The Sky”. When Belmont finally bid the crowd goodbye, you could be sure that they gained tons of new Torontonian fans.
The Home Team is not a name unfamiliar to those in the scene. These Seattle heavy pop rockers brought a crazy presence to the stage that pumped up their crowd with enough energy to last them the rest of the night. Vocalist Brian Butcher both jumped and danced around the stage and also shouted out that, at midnight that night, it would be their guitarist, John Baran’s birthday. They played high energy songs such as “Worthy” and “Brag” that had the crowd jumping and singing along, slowed things down with one of Butcher’s favourite songs, “Walk This World With Me”, brought on guest guitarist Aaron Marshall from Canadian prog metal band, Intervals, and finished off with a performance of “Loud” that made sure the crowd wasn’t afraid to get loud.
Finally, it was time for the band everyone was waiting to see: Dance Gavin Dance. Before the 6-piece entered the stage, two large blow-up creatures rose on either side of the drum kit before the room exploded with the post-hardcore sounds of “Speed Demon”. During their time onstage, Dance Gavin Dance delivered an electrifying performance fit to revive any robot. With the amount of energy from the crowd and the power behind harsh vocalist Jon Mess’s screams, the room was exuberant and filled with a certain sentiment you can only feel at concerts. Throughout the set, soundbites helped us all feel like the robot was returning, as the band performed parts 2 ½ and 3 of “The Robot With Human Hair.” Clean vocalist Andrew Wells’s voice blended perfectly with Mess’s harsh and powerful screams, while the rest of the band gave them the post-hardcore backing tracks everyone knows and loves. They concluded their set with a song dedicated to the original fans who had been around forever: “Burning The Nicotine Armoire”. But Toronto wasn’t done with them yet; instead of cheering “one more time”, the Canadians started chanting “DGD” until the lights went down and the sound of a car engine turning over rang out across the room. It wasn’t long after that the lights would flick back on and an explosion of sound would mark the beginning of “All The Way Down”, the band’s newest single. Brian Butcher of The Home Team made an appearance for the second encore song, “Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most”, and their final song of the night, “The Ghost of Billy Royalton” was dedicated to late bassist, Tim Feerick. This song was played with an energy that hadn’t been seen yet in the night. Everyone in the crowd sang along when the lyrics “it’s Dance Gavin Dance” came on, which warmed my heart to see and hear. A final crash of the drums marked the end of their set, leaving the crowd’s hearts full and spirits lifted.
