There are bands you listen to for a few years and then move on from. And then there are bands like Dance Gavin Dance, who somehow stay stuck in your brain for nearly two decades. Walking into the O2 Forum Kentish Town that night felt a little like stepping back into the scene that raised me, except now everyone has slightly better haircuts and considerably more expensive rent.
Twenty years into their career, Dance Gavin Dance remain one of those rare bands whose music makes perfect sense only when you stop trying to make sense of it. Their particular brand of post-hardcore combines technical musicianship with complete chaos, sugary melodies next to ferocious screams, and lyrics that can go from heartbreak to something completely ridiculous within the same breath.
But before we got to the main event, the evening started with two bands who were more than capable of holding their own: Dwellings and As December Falls.
Dwellings
By the time Dwellings came on, the room was already surprisingly full. There was a real sense that people had actually shown up early to watch them rather than simply waiting around for the main event. The crowd was completely focused on the stage, which gave their short set a much bigger feeling than I expected.
Their kind of restless, emotionally charged post-hardcore felt perfectly at home on this bill. Their sound has plenty of atmosphere, but they didn’t let things become too comfortable, constantly moving between softer, more melodic sections and heavier bursts of energy. Their blend of mathy guitar work, progressive structures and post-hardcore intensity made them feel like a natural stepping stone towards Dance Gavin Dance, without simply sounding like a warm-up act trying to recreate them.
Their set was frustratingly short, but it was enough to show why they deserved that level of attention. By the end, more people were paying attention, and you could definitely feel the room starting to warm up. For anyone in the room who didn’t know them already, their set was more than enough to make me want to go home and dig a little deeper.
As December Falls
As December Falls then pushed the energy even further, bringing a lot of personality with them. Their alternative rock and post-hardcore mix is much more direct, built around huge melodic hooks, punchy guitars and Bethany Hunter‘s ability to switch between clean vocals and a more aggressive delivery without losing the emotional side of the songs.
They opened with ‘Carousel’, followed by ‘Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine’ and ‘Mayday’, and it was a smart way of establishing exactly what they’re about: catchy enough to sing along to, but still carrying enough weight to keep them firmly within the heavier end of alternative rock. Their polished melodies never felt too neat, and I particularly liked how much personality Hunter brought to the performance: she didn’t simply stand there and deliver the songs; she gave them a sense of urgency that made the quieter moments hit harder when they arrived.
Then came ‘Teeth’ before they closed with ‘Therapy’. The latter gave the set a completely different texture. After spending most of the performance keeping the energy high, As December Falls allowed themselves to slow things down emotionally, and it worked because the vulnerability didn’t feel like an afterthought. By the time they were finished, the crowd felt properly ready for the madness that was about to come.
Dance Gavin Dance
Then the lights dropped, and suddenly it felt like everyone in the room had collectively remembered why they fell in love with this band in the first place.
Dance Gavin Dance kicked things off with ‘Animal Surgery’, followed by ‘Chucky vs. The Giant Tortoise’, and it didn’t take long for the floor to become exactly the kind of chaos I was hoping for. The guitars twisted around each other while the rhythm section refused to sit still for more than a few seconds, and the contrast between Jon Mess’ unmistakable screams and Andrew Wells’ clean vocals gave the songs their familiar push and pull.
Then, after only the second song, the band stopped the set because someone had apparently collapsed in the middle of the pit. I was too far away to properly see what had happened, but the sudden pause was a reminder of just how intense the atmosphere had become down there. After a short interruption, the band continued, and the room immediately snapped back into the chaos it had left behind.
‘Lemon Meringue Tie’ was where the elder-emo part of my brain completely took over. Hearing a song from Downtown Battle Mountain in 2026 is a pretty surreal experience. I’ve listened to this band through so many different eras and line-ups that songs like this almost feel like time capsules. But rather than sounding out of place next to the newer material, it still fits perfectly.
That was one of the most impressive things about the set as a whole. Dance Gavin Dance have gone through enough changes in sound and vocal line-ups over the years that a set covering their history could easily feel disjointed. Instead, the current lineup of Andrew Wells, Jon Mess, Will Swan and Matt Mingus made those different eras feel like parts of the same strange, constantly evolving machine.
‘Midnight at McGuffy’s’ and ‘Speed Demon’ provided a particularly good example of that contrast. The former carries the slightly more theatrical, unpredictable character that long-time fans associate with the band, while the latter represents their more recent direction. Somehow, they didn’t feel like they belonged to completely different bands.
Then came ‘Synergy’, turning the room into a chaotic singalong. It’s the kind of song that seems almost designed to make a crowd lose its mind, and unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. The technical playing remained ridiculously tight underneath all the movement and noise, which is part of what makes them so impressive live: music this complicated shouldn’t feel this effortless.
Then the nostalgia continued with ‘It’s Safe to Say You Dig the Backseat’ and ‘Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most’. The latter was made even more special by the appearance of Dwellings’ singer, bringing the support band back into the main set for one of the night’s biggest nostalgic moments. There was something very strange and very nice about standing in a London venue surrounded by people who clearly know exactly what these songs mean to them and screaming the lyrics together.
The set continued through ‘Trap Door’ and ‘Blue Dream’ before ‘The Stickler’ brought the main set towards its end. But of course, there is no way we were getting out of there without an encore. ‘All the Way Down’ got things going again before ‘Evaporate’ closed the night. And honestly, that was a pretty good way to finish. That song felt like a little summary of everything that makes Dance Gavin Dance so special: messy, emotional, ridiculously technical and somehow still incredibly fun. After all the different eras, vocalists, musical detours and increasingly complicated combinations of sounds, they can still put together a set that feels completely cohesive.
And that’s probably why Dance Gavin Dance are so difficult to experience objectively if you grew up with post-hardcore. Their music carries memories with it. Certain riffs immediately transport me back to a particular era of my life, while certain songs feel less like recordings and more like old friends I haven’t seen in years.
That night, the O2 Forum Kentish Town was full of people who clearly understood that feeling. Because underneath all the weirdness, the energy, the overly dramatic lyrics, and the ridiculous guitar parts, this is a band whose music has meant something to people for a very long time.
Dance Gavin Dance
Set 1
- Animal Surgery
- Chucky vs. The Giant Tortoise
- Lemon Meringue Tie
- Midnight at McGuffy's
- Speed Demon
- Synergy
- It's Safe to Say You Dig the Backseat
- Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most
- Trap Door
- Blue Dream
- The Stickler
Encore
- All the Way Down
- Evaporate