Saturday, March 30, 2013

Django Django w/ Night Moves @ The Fonda Theater- 03.23.13

Django Django

It is truly a shame that UK alt/electro/indie rockers Django Django have yet to play in San Diego- chalk it up to a perceived lack of support, booking conflicts or a distaste for fish tacos. As was the case, a drive north to Hollywood & Vine was in the works last Saturday night to catch what turned into an absolute rocker of a show. More words and photos after the jump.

 After an unexpectedly solid set from Minneapolis based four piece Night Moves (go see them opening for Poliça at the Casbah on April 18), the Fonda Theater's floor somewhat surprisingly filled from stage to bar (though the balcony remained partially empty, bringing total attendance to the 900-1000 range) in anticipation of the headlining set. The last time Django Django played in LA was at the much smaller Echo to a crowd about a quarter the size. Though that show was solid in its own right, it paled in comparison to Saturday's performance.  Sharpened by six months and probably 60 or so gigs, it was clear that these four lads had evolved significantly.  Augmented by a DIY stage setup designed to capture a balcony-level projection, the show started with the pedal to the floor and didn't let up until the lights came up after the encore.  Their 2012 self titled debut LP is solid in its own right, drawing musical elements from bands like Yeasayer and Hot Chip as well as world music to create a truly unique if undefinable sound.  The live interpretation of the studio tracks is something else entirely- while the tempo of the album is decidedly upbeat, on stage the songs are transformed into genuine rockers, spurring the audience to movement. From one fan's perspective, their sound would be a perfect fit in a House of Blues or Belly Up setting- hopefully the next time these guys make a trip to SoCal, San Diego will be included in their tour plans.

Night Moves:

Night Moves

Night Moves

Night Moves

Night Moves

Django Django:

Django Django

Django Django

Django Django

Django Django

Django Django

Django Django

For more photos from the evening click here and for additional concert photography click here.
______________________________
All photos licensed by Nate Vandermeulen under Creative Commons- BY-NC
Please ask for permission before downloading or linking to them.

No comments: