Dance Gavin Dance released their ninth studio album Afterburner on April 24, 2020 via Rise Records. The band was supposed to have a huge tour in 2020 to support it, but COVID-19 ruined that opportunity. The band still wanted to give the fans something special beyond the new album to make this year memorable for them. So, they set out a poll asking for the fans to vote on their favorite Dance Gavin Dance songs. That poll turned into a setlist that would be used for “Tree City Sessions Volume 2″.
The band released a live recorded album titled Tree City Sessions in 2016 also via Rise Records. The album consisted of 12 live session tracks recorded at Pus Cavern recording studio in their hometown of Sacramento, CA. Dance Gavin Dance partnering up with producer Danny Wimmer Presents made the next version into a global livestream event that was released on December 19, 2020. The location would be literally in the middle of the Tower Bridge in Sacramento, CA, shutting down traffic on both sides for the event. Dance Gavin Dance is Tilian Pearson (clean vocals), Jon Mess (unclean vocals), Will Swan (lead guitar/backing vocals), Tim Feerick (bass), and Matt Mingus (drums). Also joining them on stage was Andrew Wells (rhythm guitar/vocals) vocalist of the band Eidola who performed with the band on various songs.
The circular stage in the middle of the bridge was a beautiful set up with studio lights on each side where traffic would pass. Drone cameras were used to capture gorgeous video of the bridge and city of Sacramento at night as interludes during the performance. Tilian was dressed to the hilt in his red velvet suit jacket while Jon went with a full suit of autumn colors that had leaf patterns on both the jacket and pants. It was definitely a sight to see.
Dance Gavin Dance kicked off the fan-selected set with “The Backwards Pumpkin Song”, a hard-hitting fast-paced groove from their 2007 Downtown Battle Mountain followed by their well-known “Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most” from their self-titled album in 2008. It amazes me to hear this band mix-in funk, soul, rock, and hardcore to provide such amazing music. It’s like James Brown, Kool & The Gang, Rush, and Hatebreed mixed together all in one. And even I feel that doesn’t do justice to the music of Dance Gavin Dance. The collaboration between Tilian‘s unbelievable crystal clear vocals, Jon‘s superior hardcore guttural singing, Will‘s spectacular guitar sounds, Tim‘s funk grooving bass (and everyone knows I love when a band makes popular use of bass, especially when you can clearly hear the bass line), and Matt‘s thundering drums is something no musical artist will easily repeat.
The performance struck a chord with me early on hearing “Blue Dream” from their 2011 Downtown Mountain Battle II. It is such a beautiful song that wondrously mixes in their hardcore sound. Just amazing. But, honestly, this overall performance is what it was all about. Emotion. Feeling. Bringing the fans through a musical ride to lift them up and remind them why music is so important to everyone. Songs like “Jesus H. Macy” from 2013 Acceptance Speech blasted out the harder music, “Summertime Gladness” the title track from their 2017 brings the jazz in full form, and “Inspire the Liars” from 2016’s Mothership ran chills listening to Tilian‘s vocals. On top of that, bringing on Andrew to perform vocals on a number of these songs was fantastic.
The only criticism I had on this event was hearing only two songs from their recent Afterburner, which was “Strawberry’s Wake” and “Nothing Shameful”, which featured Andrew on the album, was their closing song. I would have loved to hear more songs from the album, but the vans voted to hear their favorites from prior albums, which is completely understandable. Their full setlist from “Tree City Sessions Volume 2” was:
- The Backwards Pumpkin Song
- Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most
- NASA
- Blue Dream
- Strawberry Swisher Pt. 3
- Jesus H. Macy
- Stroke God, Millionaire
- Awkward
- Summertime Gladness
- Man of the Year
- Inspire the Liars
- Son of Robot
- Evaporate
- Strawberry’s Wake
- Nothing Shameful
There is no doubt in my mind this is one of my favorite livestreams I watched in 2020. Dance Gavin Dance left it all on the bridge and gave the fans their favorite songs in such a beautiful setting that holds dear to their hearts. If you want to pick up music and merchandise from Dance Gavin Dance you can find it HERE and HERE.
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