Line-up

Headliner
Death from Above 1979 Last time in Chicago: 1 year ago

Venue

Thalia Hall

1807 South Allport Street,, 60608, Chicago, IL, US

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:30

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Death from Above 1979 biography

Death from Above 1979 - a Canadian act from Toronto - are a punk rock duo. The duo is made up of bass player and backing singer, Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger on main vocals and drums.

The duo apparently met at a Sonic Youth concert, but sometimes fabricate the details of how they met. Their name originally started as just "Death from Above' but had to be changed for legal reasons with DFA Records.

They started in 2001, despite having 1979 in their name, which is actually Sebastien Grainger's birthdate. They released their first full length album - "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine' in 2004 with Last Gang Records.

Their video "Blood On Our Hands" won a VideoFACT award at the MuchMusic Video Awards in 2005. They also played their song "Romantic Nights" on the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show.

In 2006 the band decided to officially split, Grainger claimed it was because of some musical differences in style and taste.

Sebastien Grainger was also in a band around that time called "Bad Tits" strangely enough, which was also a duo that began playing shows early on in 2010. Later on Grainger announced that the band's name had changed to "Deserts".

But in 2011 Death from Above 1979 announced that they were reforming. On September in 2012 they announced a Canadian tour where they planned to play new material. In July 2014, the duo released a new single called "Trainwreck 1979" and announced their new album "The Physical World" that would include new songs and a tour to support it.

Live reviews

2011 was a very important year for Lollapalooza- it was their 20th anniversary. It was also a very important year for Death From Above 1979 fans - it was the year the dance-punk band reunited.
Only performing live twice since their breakup, at SXSW and Coachella, Lollapalooza would draw the band the biggest crowd anyone playing in the afternoon ever had that weekend. The backdrop was a satirical tombstone proclaiming "Death From Above 1979, 2001-2006" which amused the fans in the crowd.
As soon as they stepped onto the stage (Jesse F. Keeler dressed in all black and Sebastien Grainger the antithesis in all white, bleached hair to match) the crowd erupted with cheers. The moment they began playing half the crowd was swept back to memories of their formative years listening to the distinctive sound and the other was in the midst of their teenage rebellion and seeing an iconic band they never thought they would be able to see. From the title track "You're a Woman, I'm A Machine" to the notable "Black History Month" DFA1979 did not disappoint.
There I was second row from the barrier, a 5'4" teenage girl surrounded by guys at least 6 feet tall right in the middle of the excitement with my friend, gradually drifting farther and farther away and it was one of the most memorable times in my life.
This experience also led to the inconceivable coincidence that the next year would bring, I would stand right next to the same guy at a Bloc Party gig that I did for DFA1979, and we would meet again after seeing Jack White. That is the true magic of Lollapalooza, reuniting bands and fans alike.

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