Django Django

Django Django


Tonight’s show does nothing but confirm that Django Django entirely deserve the unexpected (by them) hype currently surrounding them.

They arrive on stage soon after 21.30, facing a seriously raving crowd. I had a feeling they were popular, but not that they could cause a Beatles effect, with ultrasound screams and hair-pulling. They can. From 18year olds to more mature gig goers, the Manchester Cathedral is entirely possessed by the Django Django vibe, and nobody will be able to stand still during this gig. Everything is amazing, from the visual projections to their music to frontman Vincent Neff’s impossibly cool piano-themed shirt.

Tonight’s setlist is a mix of their latest release Born Under Saturn (Because Music) and the 2012 self-titled album, with a prevalence of the latter. David Maclean’s sturdy drums launch ‘Introduction’ and the super catchy ‘Hail Bop’, which, in the brilliant pink-themed psychedelic video, sees Neff in the role of a modern day Sisyphus and the rest of the band grappling with expensive cars, boring business presentations and unexciting video game sessions. Compared to previous live versions of the song, this one is quite upbeat and sets the dance floor atmosphere that will define the rest of the night.

Django Django are unique in their collective singing, sophisticated use of synths and keyboards (excellent work by Tommy Grace) and an impeccable rockstar presence on stage (Vincent Neff and bassist Jim Dixon) that will undoubtedly make them the highlight of many upcoming festivals this summer. Their clever mix of electronica, surf and rock makes me associate them vaguely to Depeche Mode, but with a cheerful, ironic and clubby Beach Boys twist that makes them, objectively, irresistible.

Django Django photo by Francesca Nottola

Django Django photo by Francesca Nottola

Among the next songs, ‘Storm’, ‘Shake and Tremble’, the spectacular ‘First Light’ – which has been loudly and obsessively on my playlist for weeks now – and the slower Beatlesian ‘Beginning to Fade’. The cathedral turns into a club with the infectious ‘Reflections’(another lovely video for you to watch) and the temperature is high. A projector is sending images of blue waves in the background for ‘Waveforms’ when suddenly, at around 22.15, the whole sound system fails, leaving the band and us musicless, surprised and perplexed. The crowd continues to sing the song a cappella, while the musicians look at each other puzzled. ‘No, it’s not planned’, we read in their faces. The Djangos explain that it’s the second time they break the sound system in Manchester, it happened last year too, apparently.

The band uses the break to remind us that this is the last date of the tour and they’ll be playing at a few festivals in the summer. After a few minutes they start again with the same song, but the system collapses again after 30 seconds. Ironically, before the gig they had shared a photo on Twitter from the cathedral’s library and the caption read: ‘Reassuring to know that Manchester cathedral has an exorcism section’. Clearly nobody in the parish has read those books nor tried to put their scientific teachings into practice for the sake of a successful demon-free entertainment night.

The holy temple, full of devotees, is abandoned to silence with the lights now on for half an hour, with no explanations and no apologies, something which is not particularly appreciated by the audience, nor by Jesus, for sure. Nevertheless, most people stay in the cathedral and remain hopeful. We do have faith.

At around 22.45 the band comes back on stage explaining that some lights have been turned off to enable the faint-hearted sound system to bear the power-sucking Django set, so they continue and start ‘Waveforms’, for the third time, almost in candlelight. Despite the embarrassment (for the organisation), the band is still excellent, from Maclean’s galloping drums to Grace’s keyboards to Neff’s and Dixon’s cool management of the unforeseen tech drama.

Forgotten the 30-minute joy-killing gap, fans are fully back into the Django experience with the Egyptian-themed ‘Skies Over Cairo’, which features projections of Egyptian symbols, including a spinning sacred feline deity that replaces the white neon shape of ‘Perseus arming’ (as credited on the album) that was spinning against a dark background earlier on. After ‘4000 Years’ the audience is back in full, applauding and cheering furiously, recharged also by Vincent Neff’s agile jumps on stage. Next up is the hit ‘Default’, enriched by tribal drums and maracas, followed by the vintage-filled ‘Life’s a Beach’.

It’s 23.15 and someone must have thought ‘fuck the curfew’, so we are still here, dancing to another floorfiller, ‘WOR’. With fans delirious, Django Django leave the stage for a few minutes and come back with the suction cups noise of ‘Silver Rays’ and its Beach Boys-sounding choirs. The space visuals in the background are still there, perfectly matching the music. The gig ends after an hour, leaving all happy, despite the major technical problems that have affected the show.

The band is definitely more impressive live than on album, conveying an energy not fully expressed in studio. Don’t miss them live for any reason, and pray for no blackouts.

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Francesca Nottola

I write, translate, edit texts and take pictures. I solve problems for pensioners and create problems to everyone else. Sometimes a history researcher and language tutor, I would happily live in a national archive or in the head of professional musicians. Unfortunately, I say what I think