DFA1979 Say Stormy Set at Festival D'Ete Is God's Way of Getting Even

Posted on Jul 18th 2011 3:00PM by Jonathan Dekel
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Marc Broussely, Redferns

According to DFA1979 drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger, the lightning strikes which lit up the sky during their closing set on the Molson Dry stage Sunday night (July 17) at Quebec's Festival D'Ete were God's way of getting even, or, as he put it, "This is because I told him I didn't believe in him two years ago."

The dramatic electric storm was just the latest in a series of weird events that have accompanied the uneasy reunion of the much-hyped Toronto twosome. While there were no riot police to speak of (remember SXSW?), the sonically aggressive set was not without it's tense moments; most of which occurred as heavy winds whipped at Grainger's newly blond do and the band's backdrop (ominously depicting the duo rising from a grave whose tombstone read: 'DFA1979 2001 - 2006'), the latter being dismantled by a crew when the weather became too much.

Playing in the shadow of the Quebec parliament building, the home of many separatist votes and rallies, Grainger managed to elicit boos when he referenced his English-speaking home province, though the predominantly Francophone audience seemed more interested in moshing to the music than exercising separatist pride.

To that point, Grainger and bassist Jesse F. Keeler managed a fuzz-heavy set, which, despite regular sound issues, managed to rile the crowd to a frenzy. Playing bombastic versions of most of their debut (and only) album, 2005's 'You're a Woman, I'm a Machine,' the outfit pummeled ear drums as Zeus hurled thunderbolts in the sky above.

True to his word, as soon as Grainger left the stage, the skies cleared -- an occurrence which surely left many an atheist with some uneasy conclusions.

Watch Death From Above 1979 Perform in Quebec City

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