Death-From-Above-Photo-credit-Erica-McKeehen

Death From Above (also known until recently as Death from Above 1979), the dance-punk/noise rock duo from Ontario, Canada, commanded the stage at the Metro in Chicago on November 16th, 2018 before an adrenaline-crazed crowd that happily thrashed and crashed throughout the band’s tightly-arranged 90-minute set, filled as it was with staticky keys, grimy, gritty bass, and sharply interchanging tempos. Outrage! Is Now was released last year, but the band has been touring with Mexican garage punk band Le Butcherettes in promotion of the re-release of their promo debut EP Heads Up all of November. Death From Above performed all songs from Heads Up in track-by-track order to open the show, and then went immediately into their latest releases in “Nomad” and “Outrage!”

Death From Above Setlist, 11/16/2018
1. Dead Womb
2. Too Much Love
3. Do It!
4. My Love Is Shared
5. Losing Friends
6. If We Don’t Make It We’ll Fake It
7. Outrage! Is Now
8. Nomad
9. Caught Up
10. Moonlight
11. Turn It Out
12. White Is Red
13. Holy Books
14. Freeze Me
15. Going Steady
16. Trainwreck 1979
17. Romantic Rights
18. The Physical World

Encore:
Little Girl
Pull Out

The noisey duo is comprised of bassist (and sometimes keyboardist) Jesse F. Keeler and drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger, who met in the early 2000s when Keeler was searching for a drummer for his then hardcore band. In 2002, Heads Up featuring “Dead Womb” was the duo’s first release, and they later went on to record their first full-length album, the beloved You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, released in October, 2004. The album featured successful three singles to promote: “Romantic Rights,” “Blood on Our Hands,” and “Black History Month.” The video for “Blood on Our Hands” won a VideoFACT award at the MuchMusic Video Awards and 2005. However, following this string of solid success the band experienced a significant hiatus in recording and did not produce a follow-up full-length album until 2014’s The Physical World. The Physical World, the fruit of Keeler and Grainger’s long-awaited creative union, was named Rock Album of the Year for 2015 at the Juno Awards and featured the singles “Trainwreck 1979” and “Government Trash.” The band continued to tour, even partnering with alternative rockers Rebel Motorcycle Club to co-headline a 16-date tour in 2016. Overall, Death From Above have maintained steadiness with their punk rock performances and a die-hard fan following throughout the years, despite the distance between formal albums, break-ups, band name snafus, and the gaps in touring. When they come around, they come around big, making a memorable racket that rattles the senses awake and ready for anything.

For more information and tour dates, be sure to check out Death From Above’s official web site.