DIIV
VENUE O2 RITZ, MANCHESTER
DATE 09/12/2024
Brooklyn’s DIIV may not be familiar to all Prog readers, but they share a lineage with plenty of bands that are. Based on tonight’s evidence, as they continue to support their ambitious fourth LP, Frog In Boiling Water, it’s time they’re thought of differently, having brought the house down with their fuzzy, shoegaze anthems. Initially conceived as guitarist/vocalist Zachary Cole Smith’s solo project in 2011, they’ve since evolved into a band proper dedicated to a love of post-rock, reverbdrenched atmospherics and shimmering, effects-warbled guitars. Smith cut his teeth playing in psychrock bands – as both a guitarist and a drummer – before starting DIIV, and that influence echoes through their tight, focused performance set. The spirit of Can careens through the bass-driven grooves and glittering melodies that characterise Doused, which tonight brings the quartet’s show to a thoroughly hypnotic conclusion.