Dead On A Sunday – The Amsterdam – Saint Paul MN – October 12th 2023
Dead On A Sunday – The Amsterdam – Saint Paul MN – October 12th 2023
Review and photos by Sophiea Owen
I stumbled across Dead On A Sunday maybe about a year ago? I did indeed discover them through their now iconic cover of “Dammit” by Blink-182, where they transformed it into a slow darkwave jam. I get a lot of suggestions for darkwave bands, but I’m pretty picky. However, the singer’s deep and moody vocals (which have been dubbed “Bob-Core” due to the similarity of his voice to Bob from Bob’s Burgers; they took a random comment and ran with it to great aplomb) and dark synths plus some post-punk thrashing got me hooked on more than their covers. I saw them earlier this year actually, and was happy to see them coming back again this October, which was the perfect time to jam out to their delightfully spooky music.
The night started with some lovely light synthwave and made its way darker from there. Starting out the night was Andrew Paley, who brought super clean synths and floaty vocals that I can just describe as pleasant. I’m always looking for more driven synthwave to listen to, and this was a good one!
Night Spins was next and took us in a completely different direction with some of the most energetic, gritty rock n’ roll I’ve ever gotten to hear live. Their Spotify description reads “nice people, mean music,” and nothing could be truer. The music was dirty and gritty as all get out, but the people playing looked like they were having the time of their lives, and the banter and energy with each other and the crowd was such a good time. I couldn’t help but move to their music, and their performance definitely has them on my radar, and I won’t miss another chance to see them. I was pretty much an immediate fan of their whole thing.
Dead On A Sunday did not disappoint once again. I was interested to see the differences between the previous show I’d seen earlier this year. They had a bit more stage dressing (cool little lightup coffin cutouts) and there was now a guitarist, as before it had just been the singer and drummer, so it was cool to see them expand a bit! This crowd was a bit smaller than the last time, but they have a small but dedicated fanbase here in the cities for sure. Dead On A Sunday is the perfect example of setting a whole mood for a show. I’ve seen a lot of bands play the Amsterdam. It’s a small venue for smaller bands, and most bands I see there don’t do much in terms of stage presence. But just because you’re maybe not as well known is no reason not to put on a full performance, and Dead On A Sunday does that. With the stage mostly in darkness the whole set, with the singer going through rays of red light accompanied by flashing strobes going with the music; there’s a perfect air of moodiness and atmosphere that accompanies the music so well. It’s an entire package. I’d be fine just listening to their music because I genuinely like it, but I love when there’s a reason to see them live. I will continue to see them anytime they’re through the cities, and am excited to see how they grow.
Dead On A Sunday has a new single coming out October 27th, called “Pray,” just in time for the spooky season!
You must be logged in to post a comment.