After two years, Boston-based alt rockers Dead Poet Society return to the north west to showcase their righteous uplifting anarchy to a feisty Liverpool crowd.
Liverpool’s status as a ‘music city’ is often up for debate these days. Certainly, from The Beatles to The Wombats, there’s a real pedigree, but in a year which has seen the Arts Club abandoned and the Epstein Theatre closed, support for the artists of Liverpool clearly isn’t coming from those up top.
Instead, we have to look at the grassroots, and venues such as EBGBS, Jacaranda, and Zanzibar, all of which have done wonders at fostering a fierce community of creatives that keep Liverpool alive and buzzing. One such venue is Jimmy’s, which seems to have only gone from strength to strength; what this venue has done for the city cannot be underestimated.
Now synonymous with a good night out, Jimmy’s has played host to a wide range of artists, from local rising stars Crawlers, to post-punk noise masters October Drift. It’s clearly a venue with their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in music right now, and on Wednesday 5th of July, the venue played host to Boston based alt rockers, Dead Poet Society, along with support from American-Canadian blues rock outfit Bexley, and locally based experimental project, Dead Animals.
The term ‘project’ is a deliberate one. It’s been a period of vast change for Dead Animals. Frontperson Nate Reid, originally from south London, has recently made the choice to progress the Dead Animals moreso as a solo project, with assistance from their wide variety of musical friends in conjuring up something which defies both explanation and expectation. Their sound confidently explores the realms EBM and industrial whilst maintaining a gothic post-punk undercurrent.
Reid casts a beguiling figure on stage, almost as if they have stepped directly out of time from the chicest 80’s club you’ve never heard of to perform a wild and unpredictable set. Opening up with a brooding, roiling cover of Scissor Sisters’ ‘Laura’, Reid utilises two microphones, one for vocal effects, against a backdrop of swirling electronics that pulses through the basement venue.
Fellow singer Phoebe Winstanley joins Reid on stage under the moniker of ‘Mary Bellows’, a nod to the pairs avant-garde project ‘The Ladies In The Radiator’. A particularly mesmerising rendition of Amy Whinehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ ensues, featuring what can only be described as a simply filthy dark rave beat thundering beneath the intermingling ghostly wails of the duo. Phantasmagorical in a way that one might perhaps anticipate from a Tim Burton movie.
It’s not all theatrics and no substance, however. Reid incorporates a captivating acoustic led performance that the audience is simply enchanted by, displaying her phenomenal vocal talents with falsettos that are almost evocative of Muse’s Matt Bellamy. By the time their set has wrapped up, an audience that was perhaps made of skeptics had been truly converted, and without a single vocal command for movement or energy from Reid; their talent as a frontperson did all of the talking for them.
What shape Dead Animals will go on to take is yet to be seen. But it’s clear there is nothing quite like it out there right now, and the audience agreed, speaking with Reid to express their admiration.
The intermission sees the venue putting on it’s playlist of big indie tunes. Mardy Bum, Do You Wanna, The Sound; all the songs by all the bands you might get at your local Shindie night. It matches the audience perfectly; a trendy crowd, decked out in leather and denim, eyeliner with no gender boundaries. Plenty have bust out whatever Dead Poet Society shirt they own, showcasing a strong following for the four group.
Bexley hit the stage and immediately make a connection with the audience. It’s loud, old school rock, but it feels far from dated, threading elements of blues, garage and grunge to produce something slick yet raw. Head banging starts off in pockets of the audience before sweeping through like wildfire.
A temperamental microphone attempts to throw off proceedings, but Bexley are unflinching. Almost as if in response to the whine of microphone feedback during their track ‘Falling to Pieces’, Amanda Hardy’s vocals evolve into a simply ferocious snarl in a commanding display of immense vocal talent, and the audience lap it up.
In between tracks, Bexley maintain something that at first glance appears as a shy quietness, but Hardy heralds their next track with an unapologetic apology for it being a political track. ‘Save Me, Save Us All’ is a track born from the political and societal chaos of 2020, and needs no apology; even among the rest of Bexley’s performances, this track sounds particularly huge. It’s truly a marvel how three people with a simple guitar lead set up manage to sound so expansive.
The band go on to premier a new track, ‘Bite My Tongue’, which weaves in pop sensibilities to the bluesy soundscape of the band to produce something incredibly catchy without losing any of the band’s edge. Almost as a reward for letting the band play new unheard and untested material, they follow this up with a rendition of Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Don’t Sit Down Cos I’ve Moved Your Chair’, which goes down a storm with the audience. In fact, the gentleman in front of me couldn’t have phrased the response any better: ‘Get in! Come on!’.
By the time the band have wrapped up with an anthemic closing number, they’ve clearly won over this Liverpool crowd with their down-to-earth and no-nonsense approach to performing. Speaking to the band after the show, it’s clear their itinerary is stacked full, with plans to release ‘Bite My Tongue’ within the coming months after successfully relocating to Seattle, and then moving on to truly try and crack America.
It’s also worth noting that by the time the second intermission rolled around, all technical issues had been dealt with swiftly and completely. The professionalism of the staff of Jimmy’s must be commended, as well as the sheer quality of the sound and lighting in the venue. It’s obvious why so many upcoming acts are drawn to the venue.
It was another grassroots venue that last played host to Dead Poet Society in the north west; Birkenhead’s Future Yard was the venue of choice two years ago, and it‘s clear their fans are hungry for more. With a rallying cry of ‘what the fuck is up Liverpool!’, the crowd explodes into life. No cue is needed; as the band launch into ‘.getawayfortheweekend.’, the crowd immediately begin singing along instinctively, loud enough to be heard over the bolshy wall-of-sound that stylises much of Dead Poet Society’s unique approach to alternative rock.
There’s a cheeky confidence to the band; the four piece know that they’re in charge of the room, and greet the audience like old friends, before bringing out ‘.burymewhole.’, which has the audience cheering at the mere opening guitar riff. It’s not just the old tracks that receive a warm reception however; the tour is not without purpose, and the band unveil a new unreleased single in the form of ‘Running in Circles’, marking the band’s first new material since 2021’s ‘-!-‘. Huge, danceable energy permeates the whole track, with it’s phenomenally catchy rhythm sections that force you to move along with it. This track promises to be a big alt rock hit when it drops.
Dead Poet Society return to familiar territory with ‘.AmericanBlood.’ and ‘I Never Loved Myself Like I Loved You’, which see the guitarist Jack Collins vaulting the barrier and the air filled with the raised arms of raucous concertgoers, now finally kicking things up a gear and nearly drowning out the band themselves on several occasions with their celebratory singing. It is clear that this is an audience whom have waited patiently for this band to return, and now have made it perfectly clear that they want everything the band have to give them, and more.
It’s not all about the furious and uptempo however; ‘One Month’ sees frontman Jack Underkofler introducing the track by describing how it was never intended as a Dead Poet Society track, owing to its soft and stripped back nature. The lighting is simple and stark, and Underkofler demonstrates a commanding vocal talent with a particularly phenomenal upper register that carries incredible emotive weight and intensity.
The band, with the end of the night quickly beginning to approach, rev proceedings up once more, with thunderous and well-loved track such as ‘.swvrm.’ and ‘.SALT.’. The first two-thirds of the crowd are off their feet, and even those of us at the back give what energy we have left. Underkofler disappears from the stage and into the churning mass off bodies, and it’s like electricity ripples through the audience as the energy becomes supercharged. It’s ultimately inevitable but still incredibly gratifying to see a pit explode into life as the band hurtles into the end of their set with ‘.CoDA.’. The room gives it everything they have, with no single part remaining still.
The inevitable chant of ‘one more song’ is greeted with the band throwing what appeared to be – and please understand I’m still not certain I actually saw what I saw – signed slices of bread into the audience. Whilst I have yet to find an answer to this, I can confirm that the encore wrapped the night up in truly celebratory form, with a one-two combination of ‘1.4.5’ and ‘.intoodeep.’ before Dead Poet Society finally departed the stage to the rapturous applause and cheering of an audience well fed.
Six years is how long it took between the band’s debut and their sophomore output. But with an international tour supporting a new single under their belt, it’s hard to imagine that fans are going to be left wanting for very long from Dead Poet Society, and the alt rock scene will be all the better for it. The ferocity and passion of this four-piece is undeniable, and their effortless command of an audience is something worth study.
Or at the very least, I entered the room a newcomer and left with CD in hand, so that has to count for something. Passion is contagious.
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