Does It Offend You, Yeah? @ Johnny Brenda’s
May 20th, 2008 - by Abdullah
Dance-pop is really one of those things you can’t go wrong with. You are guaranteed a shaking ass or twelve in every city on your tour as long as you stick with the housy beats and keep the wailing synth warm. I will, however, grant credit to whoever is doing it well. It takes skill to successfully recreate an album like ‘You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into‘ with live instruments. The record is shrill and upbeat, with drum-machine precision and carefully implemented thrash factor, which I was sure was the work of a producer. For a live show, I was expecting a rough translation at best. However, the guys from Does It Offend You Yeah? (DIOYY?) delivered on point, all the while laughing, bouncing around on stage and having a blast.
The show opened with a high-energy instrumental, and album opener, ‘Battle Royale (Album Version)
The band began to show frustration. They challenged the crowd, as an unfit parent would his meekest child. “We thought Philadelphia knew how to party” The immediate evidence proved them to be misinformed. On neither of the two levels facing the stage in Johnny Brenda’s, one of my favorite venues in Philly, were more than two people dancing next to each other. They stood there, arms folded; super-cool males and females standing around looking like band girlfriends.
We had no intention of letting the atmosphere at crowd-level interfere with our good time. It was Thursday night, dammit, and the music was sweet. Every track they belted out was familiarly from their debut album. There was a song that suspiciously sounded like a Devo cover, something Joe and I argued about for at least five minutes. We did, however, agree that a lot of DIOYY?’s songs kind of sound the same. It is indeed a style, and not one that grates on the ears after an extended showcasing by any means, but an undeniable pattern existed and there was nothing revolutionary being played. So what? It was a fun show, and it was tight.
The set ended, and the self-roadied band filed off the stage, but not before I snuck in for a quick interview. I had spoken with guitarist/vocalist Morgan Quaintance at the bar before they went on, and he was totally cool on that. We rolled in, drunk and mildly danced out, to shoot the breeze with the band for a moment.
“How did you like your set?” I asked, drawing a couple of groans from the guys, who didn’t seem thrilled with their performance. They were clearly more pleased with their set, however, than with their reception. Philadelphia was, according to them, one of the most docile crowds they had played for on this tour.
I apologized for how wack everyone there was, and explained that hipsters can be kind of snooty as an audience. I know this as I perform hip hop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; mod central. They didn’t seem to understand the term I was using, and as I began to explain, Joe spilled a full beer all over drummer Rob Bloomfield’s clean laundry. Shattered the glass and everything. The band didn’t seem too upset, but sort of broke off into an awkward chuckle and told Joe not to worry about it. I laughed my ass off.
“You can’t take this prick anywhere!” I said. I know Joe and he will always spill a beer all over the place at the worst time. It was priceless. The guys told us how exhausted they were from touring and that they were doubling up on shows the next night in New York. We wished them a better time than they had had in Philly and exited the green room. It was another great show in Philly, and yet another confirming the lack of energy in crowds these days. I wish everyone would just swallow their pride and dance.
Does It Offend You Yeah? - “Let’s Make Out”
