DMA’s at Here at Outernet

Australian rock band DMA’s, composed of Tommy O’Dell (lead vocals), Matt Mason (lead guitar) and Johnny Took (rhythm guitar), released their latest album, How Many Dreams? in March of this year, and to celebrate, they embarked on a tour across Australia and the UK. To round out 2023, the trio took on Here at Outernet in central London.

Although the venue is quite sizable with two floors, it was packed; fans arrived early and squeezed their way to the front, heavily anticipating what was to come. When the lights went down, the crowd roared, and the band walked out. After only a brief moment of silence, DMA’s jumped straight into Olympia. Took, guitar in hand, jumped and skipped around in an attempt to rile up attendees, but they were already one step ahead of him: when The Glow played, the filled audience unanimously jumped, arms flailing from side to side. Timeless was next, followed by Get Ravey; concert-goers took this as an invitation to get rowdier.

With the ambience set and the scene electrified, the gig continued with the synthy Something We Are Overcoming. O’Dell’s voice was almost lost in how loud the audience was singing along to the chorus. The trio switched things up with Emily Whyte and In the Air, which are slower tracks from previous albums. The energy picked back up again with Straight Dimensions, and then Fading Like A Picture. Although the band took a brief detour from the established high-energy dance moments, the crowd was never still. Shouts of “D-M-A, D-M-A, D-M-A,” rang through the venue after each song without fail.

Next was one of the group’s most beloved tracks, Silver. Even though it’s slow and dreamy, the audience went wild: fans were sitting on top of each other’s shoulders, a couple of mosh pits opened up, and everyone in the basement level of Here at Outernet thrashed around while singing along. The same occurred during Tape Deck Sick and Delete, and although security attempted to shut down any unruly activity among attendees, it was no use: the energy amongst the hundreds of bodies was too high to dull. The main set wrapped up with Feels Like 37, and for the first time in about an hour, the pit was still. A couple of minutes later, the band returned for a three-song encore. The final mosh pits and shoulder-sitting ensued for Step Up the Morphine, Lay Down and Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend, and just like that, the fierce environment calmed and concertgoers made their way home.

DMA’s are no doubt a rock band with Britpop influences, but the crowd alone would have one thinking they are an exclusively EDM or techno group meant to be played at raves. O’Dell, Mason and Took have created their own unique atmosphere and community that is hard to replicate. DMA’s have quite the future ahead of them, and their fans will surely follow them, no matter which direction the trio take.

Taryn Crowley
Photos: Mike Garnell

For further information and future events visit the website of DMA’s here.

Watch the video for the single Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend here: