Fresh off their weekend at
Coachella, Does It Offend You, Yeah?
arrive to a rather sparse, but highly energetic
reception at Slim’s in San Francisco.
The turnout is probably partly to blame on their
set being at the barely rock-o’clock hour
of 9pm. Considering that this is a two-band
bill (with Yo Mejesty the headliner), one would
expect a later start.
A bit more of a crowd had
gathered by the time the boys took the stage
after a twenty minute push-back, presumably
for the room to fill. Drummer, Rob Bloomfield
is strangely missing as the band begins. The
band intruduces themselves to a rousing applause,
and someone yells, “You guy were great
at Coachella!” Singer/bassist, James
Rushent replies in his British accent
“Thanks”. Before they begin, someone
else yells, “Tell us a story about Coachella,”
and all Rushent has to say is, “Portishead
stole the show.”
The sound on “Weird
Science” is coming off a bit hollow, and
the sound manager is fiddling with a cord with
the band’s full attention. One false move…
and the sounds completely dies. The band blames
this on their absent drummer, but it looked
more like an issue with the techie equipment
of sound-stylist, Dan Coop.
This is all taken in stride.
“We want to make sure this is flawless,
so we’re going to leave the stage for
ten minutes and reappear as if nothing has happened.”
They all duck into the stairwell and re-emerge—drummer
in tow—and annouce, “Hello, San
Francsico! We’re Does It Offend You, Yeah?!”
Someone yells, “You guys were great at
Coachella!” Rushent responds, “Don’t
worry, we’ll be great here too. I heard
you want a story about Coachella. Well, Portishead
stole the show.”
And with that, DIOYY ripped
again into “Weird Science,” this
time ringing the bell to perfection, ladeling
out the first of numerous doses of rampaging
electro hardcore punctuated by electro pop-punk.
Acknowledging that obvious comparisons are the
journalistic low-road, it can’t be avoided
here: This is Britain’s mash-up of the
Faint meets Daft Punk meets Bloc Party . It’s
simply brilliant party music for the hardcore
dance enthusiasts.
In addition to “Wired
Science” highlights were “Hip to
be Shit”—which the band prefaced
with a warning that they hadn’t practiced
it enough, but it came off flawless—and
the closer, “We Are Rockstars.”
Check out DIOYY’s debut
album, You Have No Idea What You’re
Getting Yourself Into for the
full dose; and certainly don’t miss them
when they play Denver’s Bluebird
on Saturday, March 10.
