So a few years ago Bryan told me I might like DIIV, ’cause they have like a New Order / Cure kind of vibe, which may or may not be true, but I got pretty into them, and even more so after seeing them live.
DIIV played a show of only new material from their forthcoming 2nd album at Baby’s All Right. A band I hadn’t heard of, Sunflower Bean, pictured above, opened. It turns out they were shredding super hard, with a Black Sabbath kind of vibe. By the way these descriptions are not necessarily accurate to all listeners, just feelings I remember having.
Then DIIV played all new material to a packed, stuffy, hot room, and the album didn’t come out for almost a year after that!
A couple months later Sunflower Bean played at Rough Trade and it was sick.
Then the 2 bands toured together and played at Webster Hall.
It was around Halloween time so DIIV played their encore as the Wizard of Oz characters.
Sunflower Bean played my birthday at Bowery Ballroom. It was the homecoming show of their US tour for their 2nd album, Human Ceremony. Julia Cumming, the bassist, jumped into the crowd during a song, and it was epic, basically.
DIIV did a residency at Market Hotel when their 2nd album, Is The Is Are, finally came out.
The 2 bands played together again at the House of Vans, and since then I’ve missed all of their local shows :(.
