Tag Archives: Django Django

Edinburgh Hogmanay Review

2014
Feast started the night over at the main stage enclosure with Edinburgh’s own The 10:04’s opening the proceedings.
The band only played a 20 minute set, but they made sure they left a lasting impression on the huge crowd.
Having seen the boys play in practically ever venue across the city, they showed that they have the tunes and the swagger to make the leap into the big time league.
The formidable frontmen of Steven Bolton and Danny Scrimshaw looked confident, as they exchanged vocal duties
The brooding ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Throes’ sound taught, delicate and romantic, yet full of harmony,sung with boys Scottish brogue, it’s a fantastic contemporary direction.
They played a set laden with newer tracks, it was a great showcase to highlight the fantastic new music, currently being produced in Edinburgh.
Whilst I wished the 04s had ended their set, how they normally do, with the gloriously noisy ‘About Tonight’, as it would’ve kicked off the night with a bang, but that’s just preference.

Next up we meandered through the masses for Chvrches.
The next big Scottish export for sure, having enthralling audiences across the pond and their tracks being played absolutely everywhere.
Chvrches cross-over success has been astounding and looks certain to continue with mainstream dominance in 2014.
Devoid of any, high tech lighting, or imagery, the trio, let their music let the crowd know exactly what they were about. The trio made up of Iain Cook and Martin Doherty mixing familiar yet bittersweet electro soundscapes behind Lauren Mayberry sugar-sweet vocals, effortlessly cajoling those in front of them to dance.
Mayberry’s haunting vocals soared across the still night air as the synth pop soundscape of We Sink and the aura of The Mother We Share further set
The gem of their set proved to be the shimmering Under the Tide, with Doherty taking the mic – the vocal exchange between him and Mayberry creating a pumping electro but brilliantly understated track. A fantastic set from Scotland’s next massive band.

Django Django are the new party band!
The new festival headline band du jour!
End of story. The atmosphere before the boys jumped on stage, was electric.
These boys have upped the game, before,they were eclectic, enthralling and exciting, now they are the finished article, strutting about the Waverly stage they had the crowd dancing as they juggled instruments and synths as their arsenal of tracks stormed the stage.
The mathematical future disco kings warp a plethora of influences from 70s prog, afrobeat percussion, and pounding synths into a a full on pounding, euphoric, electric party.
Crowd favourites ‘Hail Bop and ‘Default’ had the crowd bouncing into a fevered mess before the bells and fireworks.
A completely fitting night, to one of the country’s exciting band, here’s hoping Django Django are playing the festivals.

With such a strong Scottish line up (we’re claiming Django Django as half of the band are Scottish) of exciting music, its a great platform to show off the Scottish music scene.

Posted by Stacy

Django Django, Pavilion Theatre, Brighton.

Django Django formed in Edinburgh in 2009 after meeting at Art College. We caught them at Brighton’s Pavilion Theatre, the huge queue outside a fair indication of how the band’s following has built up over the last couple of years although  undoubtedly the crowd is swelled further by the fact that they have been on Jools Holland’s TV show the night before.

On their eponymous album, released earlier this year, there are definite whiffs of the shambolic charm of the Beta Band but live I am surprised to find they have a pristine sound and incisiveness  which adds an epic quality that I wasn’t expecting. There is actually a Beta Band connection though as it turns out as drummer David Maclean’s big brother was a member of the much missed outfit.

Like the Beta Band Django Django understand how to mix their musical influences together in intoxicating ways: The keys cut through the mix  aggressively, threatening to turn the gig into a nineties style rave, the vocals float above the rest of the music with spacious psychedelic harmonies and the cowbell clanks as if your head is in a metal waste paper bin and Mr T is on the outside hitting the bin with a gold drumstick. At one point  the keyboards cut out, just as Grimes’ sequencers will do the following night but nothing can stop the Django feel good funnel for long and the ivories kick back in after a couple of minutes, albeit in mono.

From where we were standing, which was admittedly fairly near the back,  the pleasingly surreal impression I got of the band visually was that the group was made up of New Order’s Bernard Sumner on vocals, Jimmy Carr, the unnaturally huge headed joke jockey, on guitar and playwright Dennis Potter on keys.  On later reflection having seen their video appearance on BBC iplayer I realise this impression was possibly, arguably, slightly wide of the mark.  Either way Django Django are one of the best bands to emerge in the UK in a long time and live manage to be charming, exciting and original all in one accessible, love-able package and there just aren’t too many new bands around just now that you can say that about.