Utrecht, The Netherlands – It has been less than a month since American rock band DIIV announced their upcoming new record Frog In Boiling Water, released their first single “Brown Paper Bag” and are already starting their Europe and UK tour. TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht has the honor of being the first show of the tour.
The support act of this show is the postpunk band Disorientations, a three-piece band from Antwerp, Belgium. They brought raw energy to the stage but in a pleasant way. The shredding guitar riffs and strong vocals woke up the crowd. There seem to be some melancholic 80s sounds and their music also reminded me a bit of the band White Lies. When I looked around, the people around me certainly seemed to appreciate the music. Among the songs, they played their latest single “Not Here” from their new album Lost Today, which will be released on April 19. Although the music can be quite heavy and melancholic, it is still easy to listen to. Disorientations is a band to keep an eye on because this probably won’t be the last thing we hear from them!
Before DIIV hit the stage a video was played, which showed a scientist talking about how this concert will be a life-changing experience and you will never be the same after this. With such a bold statement, DIIV has put a lot of pressure on them self to make it happen. But it also ensures that the audience immediately pays attention. The band enters the stage and plays the opening track “Like Before You Were Born” from their last album Deceiver. It didn’t take long before the first new song from the upcoming album Frog In Boiling Water, “Brown Paper Bag” was played. And it certainly wasn’t the last new song on the setlist. No fewer than five new songs were played, including “Soul-net”, which was released just a day earlier.
In addition to the new songs, the songs from the heavier Deceiver were especially well represented. Songs like “Taker”, “Between Tides” and “Blankenship” were played, alternating with slightly airier songs such as “Under The Sun” and “Take Your Time” from the album Is The Is Are. “Blankenship” clearly turned out to be one of the crowd’s favorites to go wild with. The real highlight of the evening was the very last song of the evening. For the last time, the crowd was able to throw (or must I say jump) out all of their energy on “Doused”. In my opinion, it’s still one of DIIV’s best songs to date.
With the hypnotic vocals of singer Zachary Cole Smith and the vicious and sometimes haunting guitar riffs, the audience was carried along with DIIV’s trip. Even though Smith visibly suffered from pneumonia, he managed to hold up well. The European tour has some dates left, but this summer DIIV will be touring throughout the US. For more info click here.
DIIV
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Disorientations
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Setlist:
Like Before You Were Born
Under The Sun
Brown Paper Bag
Take Your Time
Taker
Soul-net
Frog In Boiling Water
Air Condition
In Amber
Between Tides
Blankenship
Acheron
Horsehead
Raining On Your Pillow
Incarnate Devil
Doused
Show Date 5/03/2024
