Yeah, it was an awesome find when I first heard it. I think this was probably the first song I heard that did that, Mothership was my first album and probably still my favorite tbh. There are more song from it I like than from any other single album.
Yeah, Swan has been hugely influential to the post hardcore music scene ever since DGD popped onto the music scene. He pretty much created this brand of music with the funky guitar riffs over heavy music. He now has his own festival named after him and I believe he has his own brand of guitar effects and stuff like that (I don’t pay much attention to those things because i’m not a musician so I’m not 100% sure)
@@BendyDH Sad story time, I was all set to travel to San Francisco in 2020 and attend swanfest when covid hit and basically just destroyed everyone's plans, but most importantly it killed swanfest
The whole Afterburner album is dope, but man, ever since Tillian joined the band, they’ve gotten so much better. His voice is one in a million for sure.
Afterburner is already aging so well. The production, the sound, everything is the tightest it’s been since Tilian came on board. Every single song is a banger.
The song is about tillian’s dad who is a Scientologist, he dragged his family deeper and deeper into it and the song is basically tillian calling it a cult “So let's start a religion They'll believe in what we say Let's start a religion We can blind their eyes with faith A new religion We'll tell them where our spirits go Start a religion I need my ego to explode”
"I don't know what Jon just said, but it was fun to listen to" is already quote of the year for me lol. Also David you should check out any of their live stuff you will be blown away.
It’s crazy how the “a voice like this doesn’t come around very often” applies to 2 of 3 of DGD’s lead singers - Tilian and Jonny Craig. And even though Kurt isn’t quite on that level for me, his voice is still incredible and was the perfect kind of tone/energy for the band in that era of their history. The fact that DGD haven’t missed with their lead vocalists is insane.
Swanfest right? I got to go to the very first one in Anaheim! Amazing concert/festival. It’s a shame the second one got canceled because of the Pandemic. They were gonna come back home to Sacramento too. 😔🥲 can’t wait to go to concerts again.
I love this band more than I love myself, and watching people enjoy it greatly enhances my quality of life. Keep the DGD content coming, Dave. I don't care which song or which album cos they're all BOSS. Jon once said "We'll always make a good album" and he did not lie.
@@jamesduzjitz_91 Oh ya 100%. I get that vibe from Lost and Death of a Strawberry Swisher Pt. 3. Just thought ITL was a little more aggressive. I’m Christian, but gotta say their writing and music is just incredible. I still have respect for them, but I still can have an opinion 🤷🏻♂️
But when he said: "Make money growing extra limbs for aliens that abducted me, but those space-bucks never work at any stores, can never get those minutes back." I sympathized with the amalgam of detached, unsettling frustration and loss. 🤔
Fun fact: Tilian and his siblings were actually named after characters in the Lord of the Rings books. Confirmed by his father as posted on Tilians Twitter.
DGD blows me away with their ability to continuously produce quality music with so many different inspirations. They even have a song where Tilian sings exclusively in Spanish. They blow my mind.
Especially these days, they’ve gotten way more professional in their touring approach as they’ve gotten older. (....rather less so back in the kurt/Johnny days). It’s been amazing to see them grow and now they just sound incredible every time.
Tree City Sessions is actually their live albums, Tilian takes songs from the previous two vocalists and basically does them in his own style, however if you do plan on doing TCS I would listen to the previous vocalists songs first, for example Blue Dream which had vocalist Jonny Craig or even NASA with Kurt Travis. The previous two vocalists had very different styles to Tilian which is really interesting to compare and definitely a must if you’re going in depth on DGD.
I would literally pay you out of my own pocket to react to the whole discography 🤣🤣 lol at least weekly DGD reactions?? Haha love your videos guys ❤️❤️
Seen them live once and it was incredible. Each member went into their own solo multiple times. So much talent around the board. They even release instrumental albums of every LP just to showcase it.
I am again suggesting Hail the Sun. Their singer (who is also their drummer) was in a band with will swan, called Sianvar, which are also great. HTS dropped a single a few days ago which you should definitely check out!
I’m glad you picked up on the meaning of the song at the end. Keep traveling down the rabbit hole that is dance Gavin dance, you will NOT be disappointed ever.
To answer some of his questions, Will Swan is very involved in the writing process, having a whole genre of music created based off of his style. They don’t sound exactly the same live but they do sound great live with their touring guitarist Andrew Wells. Matt Mingus and Will Swan are also the only two members who have been with the band in it entirety. They have a bunch of videos in that cartoon style as well. I love this band due to their style being very meaningful but still fun. You can get an emotional response to the songs, but they are fun.
as a person teaching themselves vocals, tillian is like end game goals for me. his control is mind blowing, and while what hes doing isnt like super technical he still shows a mastery of it that astounds me. i hope to only be half the singer he is lmao
I don't know what it is, probably something to do with the news about Tim's passing, but watching this guy fully appreciating dgd's music made me tear up
Their live performance of "We Own the Night" is essentially studio quality, obviously there's gonna be other factors so not every live performance will be amazing but that's the one to listen to if you're trying to compare them when live to recorded.
@ 4:08... the answer to that is YES! I've never seen them in concert, but my son has. I did get the opportunity to see their COVID streaming event on a bridge in their hometown of Sacramento, and it was phenomenal. They're very tight live.
I remember hearing this song for the first time - my first experience with DGD. Love at first sight and listen. Nothing beats these guys. The intro of Inspire The Liars gives me chills even after years.
They are really good live. I've seen them 3 times in 7 years and every time they just kill it! Hands down will always be my favorite band, I strive to find unique music like DGD, and there's a good variety out there. But nothing ever compares for me. Glad you enjoy them! Very new to your channel! Definitely going to check out more. Keep it up man!
Their shows are so incredible. I’ve gone VIP twice, and Will is such a dope individual. Kinda shy but for sure a gem. Tilian’s such a showman lol. This band’s so underrated
My wife and I saw DGD live in Atlanta, Ga in 2018. They were direct support for Underoath (another great band you should check out), and they sounded amazing. Their live performance really mirrored the records they produced. Tilian hit every high note from the recordings. Their energy works well live.
Seen DGD live at least 5 times and can definitely say they sounds just as good live. Overall probably my favorite band. According to an interview I watched with band members, I think most DGD songs start with riffs that Will has composed and the rest of the song kind of develops from there.
Young Robot has always been on of my go-to's by them. Honestly they have so many songs going back years and years, and they've been amazing. The more recent albums, however, hit more refined and more sugary, if that makes any sense. I would love to hear your reaction to a song with Jonmy Craig as the lead singer. He was problematic, but his vocals are so soulful and powerful, along with Tilian he's got such a unique voice, and he's one of my favorite vocalists.
They're amazing live, jon's vocals sound exactly as they do in the studio version and tillian can still hit every single one of his notes. all the instrumentation is as tight as it is in their studio versions. highly recommend checking out their tree city sessions on spotify.
The band is shockingly close to their studio-sound when performing live. Really the only place they falter is the singers sometimes just can’t keep up the same breath control, but that’s super forgivable. Top notch band, super humble vibes and very talented musicians.
Tillian has a side project named after himself. Might be worth checking out a song called 'hold on' by him. Beautiful song and the lyrics + music video made me cry.
Hoping you eventually react to Hail The Sun. Will Swan signed them to his record label a few years back and they've slowly been on the rise. They need reactors to react to them though. They deserve so much more recognition than they get
Will Swan imo is the glue to the band through all the transitions in vocals. Tillian is absolutely definitive to the modern, and longest lasting, set that is Dance Gavin Dance. But Will Swan is, again imo, the most important and identifying part of the band. What a killer guitarist.
Met Tillian in one of the FL concerts along with Jon and Matt which are both freaking awesome guys, but Tillians' voice is somewhat regularly high pitched especially after talking with him for a while so I can say when he sings, he sounds like an angel lmfao.
Knew of Will back in the day of Farewell Unknown and he's always been a phenom. I can still hear his solo lines back in the day relating even now. He always did the tweedley guitar leads, used to look up to him as a fellow musician in the Sac scene in early 00's.
I know that you'll want to save a lot of these for your channel reactions, but do yourself a favor at some point and react to the entire Mothership album. This was my first album by them, and it was so refreshing to hear new music by real musicians, that I think I've listened to that album 50 times. It's sooo good. Oh... and I'm in my 50s, so I'm not really the demographic they're shooting for. My son introduced me to them in 2016, and I'm so glad. Music has been boring and lifeless for quite some time, and then these guys came along with an invented genre. Simply and amazing band.
YOU NEED TO DO MORE DGD, EITHER AFTERBURNER (parallels, nothing shameful, into the sunset) or MOTHERSHIP (on the run, evaporate, frozen one). This is so incredibly important for quality musicianship and supporting the boys!
I feel like I'm giving away their secret but basically Tillian lays out the storyline and Jon comes in for misdirection. He's there to "throw the listeners off the scent" but sometimes it's not misdirection, just always keeps you guessing.
If you want to hear them live, they just released a live performance of “Man of the Year”. You should check out songs with their past lead singers, Kurt Travis and Jonny Craig. Kurt is my personal favorite and his songs “Tree Village” or “Carl Barker” are killer. For Jonny, “Blue Dream” or “Lemon Meringue Tie”
"Do they sound this good live?" I remember Will swan saying once in an interview the music is soo technical that they can't 100% play everything correct live . That there is a bit of improvisation involved . I say fair enough to that !
I love DGD, but that's such a terrible excuse. Their music is technical, no doubt, but much more technical stuff is played consistently true to the recorded version. EDIT:: That being said, they are still phenomenal live.
@@iFlarexXx they stay about 90% true to album. The only thing that is consistently different is Tillians voice, which always starts perfectly but by the end of the set is obviously fried. Which is totally to be expected.
I've seen them live several times, there is a ton of improvisation. It's actually amazing because it works so well. Will ends up changing some of the guitar parts, but you can still tell what each song it is. I'll also say that everyone including Andrew Wells usually performs extremely well, but due to the nature of so many of the songs having such sustained high notes for Tillian, you definitely want to catch him on a tour date where he's had a week off. If you go to see him live a day/ two days after he played another full show some songs aren't as great, but I cant really blame him. The last one I went to they got an encore that they actually responded to (every one I went to an encore was requested) and instead of playing their music they played cover songs which was actually really cool to hear them play as the only cover song we have that is on a label is the Bruno Mars cover on punk goes pop. One was Under Pressure by David Bowie/Queen.
I’d really love to hear your reaction to some of their older songs with former clean vocalists, especially after your comment about what Tilian adds to the band. I’ve been a DGD fan since I was 15 (nearly half my life!), so I feel like all their vocalists have a special place in my heart, but there’s definitely a #1 for me. I’m just really curious what your thoughts are. Some recommendations, in order from oldest to newest: - Burning Down the Nicotine Armoire (Jonny Craig) - Surprise! I’m from Cuba, Everyone has a Brain or Lemon Meringue Tie (Jonny Craig) - Alex English and/or Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most (Kurt Travis) - Need Money (Jon Mess is especially phenomenal on this one; Jonny Craig) or The Robot with Human Hair pt 2.5 (Jonny Craig) - Another one with Tilian that’s super fun is Summertime Gladness (VERY funky, has a bitchin’ sax solo) You might also want to look up DGD’s live albums, Tree City Sessions 1 & 2, on Spotify Also, Jon Mess, Will Swan, and Matt Mingus, as well as former DGD bassist, Eric Lodge, are in a band called Secret Band. I’d recommend the songs Moon and Stuck & Glued. All their songs are phenomenal, though. Also also, Tilian has his own project, also with Matt Mingus (just called Tilian). The song Heartfelt is so so so good. A bit dirty, a little funky, and just so good. It’ll make you want to dance, for sure. Cocky is also a good song. I love what you do! Please keep it up! I’ve moved far away from my old concert buddies to pursue my PhD, and the first reaction one of my colleagues had when my music automatically came on in my car was “wow you’re so angry!” And then they belittled my music taste for a bit. It was just DGD! Hardly “angry.” So anyway, now my music is something I keep very private, but it’s such an important part of my life. I feel like I’m sharing my faves with a friend when I watch your videos. It’s so cheesy but true!
I've seen them 4 times. Tillian is about 50/50 on performance. Sometimes he is ON and others, his voice is tapped out. They have a rigorous, pretty much nonstop touring schedule (pre-covid, of course) and Tillian's voice noticeably takes a beating. I would say if your city is close to the start of the tour, he's going to be well rested. 2nd half...mixed bag. I live in Southern California though so they either start here or end here.
@@jamesduzjitz_91 if new I would have to say something from their stream concerts. Because their old live stuff doesn’t sound to good tbh they sound a little messy back then i but now they’re a little cleaner
Saw Tilian and Mingus do a show in Sacramento in 2019 and was floored by how good he sounds live, and Jon mess sounds really strong aggressive and clear as well. Mingus was excellent as always
