Dance Gavin Dance: End of an Era
- The Great Brown Hope
- Jun 6
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 6
The group is NEVER ending. The group GREW from decay. The group is DARKNESS, father, Heaven selected the truth as pain.
What's cracking folks! To those who have never been to Storee Time before, grab a drink and have a seat, and welcome.
And welcome to everyone who continues to support what we, Main Event Wrestling Network, do as a collective. And for that we all say Thank You.
I am The Great Brown Hope, but you already knew that. I have been a fan of Dance Gavin Dance since Tilian Pearson joined the band. I have seen it all since and I have enjoyed the ride for what it has been. The experiences I have enjoyed and the people I have befriended because of this band is enough to be another Storee for another day. We gonna wrap up the intro B and get right to it yall!
Welcome
To
While Jon Mess was born in a cemetery, Dance Gavin Dance originated from Sacramento California. City of Trees, or may I say, Tree Village baby!
A band whose sound was originally orchestrated and organized by members Will Swan, Jon Mess, Matt Mingus, Jonny Craig, Eric Lodge, and Sean O’Sullivan. Their first release came in the form of an extended play titled Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean.
Dance Gavin Dance would go the distance with numerous member changes along the way. Guitarists came and left, vocalists the same. But the core, heart, and soul of the group always was and will remain Jon Mess, Will Swan, and Matt Mingus. The Big Three so to speak.
Their sounds would evolve with the changes, both sudden but at times to no surprise. Their sounds would progress through an era of music that was always changing. And with those changes also came the transitions of physical media to digital media, and the demand for physical media rising again in the midst of shortages and work overloads at printing factories. Dance Gavin Dance will always be stronger than the machine, whilst also being a fine tuned being of robotic inspired mechanics themselves (more on that later).
After the release of Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean, Dance Gavin Dance would release Downtown Battle Mountain, Dance Gavin Dance, Happiness, and Downtown Battle Mountain II. Two of those albums featured Jonny Craig as the lead vocalist, while two featured Kurt Travis as the lead vocalist. Each album boasted it's own unique sound and delivery, much to the enjoyment and approval of their ever growing fanbase. And while the success they were seeking to obtain was within reach, old problems still found their way inside the group.
In 2010, Jon Mess and Jonny Craig rejoined the band to record Downtown Battle Mountain II, which would be released in 2011. Upon it's release, DGD would embark on tour to promote the album, whilst also making an appearance at Vans' Warped Tour. In August 2012, while on the All Stars Tour, Jonny Craig was kicked out of the band and DGD tagged in Secret Band to complete the tour. This marked the end of Jonny Craig's second stint with the band and left DGD's future up in the air, leaving the question as to who will replace Jonny this time. Do they call Kurt Travis to come back? Do they call Matt Geise to take the reins?
Nope.
Dance Gavin Dance would embark on a headlining tour, the Rock Yourself to Sleep tour, in which they would be joined by A Lot Like Birds, I The Mighty, Hail the Sun, and The Orphan,The Poet.
And on the first day of the tour, November 2, 2012 (hey that's The Great Brown Hope's birthday!), Dance Gavin Dance would be joined by a new lead singer, former Tides of Man vocalist, Tilian Pearson. And with Tilian at the helm and taking the lead on clean vocals, this NEW Dance Gavin Dance played all the fan favorites and classics to date. Teasing what was to come, they would perform the songs Alex English, Me and Zoloft Get Along Just Fine, Tree Village, Spooks, Rock Solid, and Lemon Meringue Tie, just to name a few. They even brought Donovan Melero from Hail the Sun on stage to help with vocals for Uneasy Hearts Weight the Most. Tilian's vocals gave these classics a new twist as he made them his own, helping to build a new aura for a group that was looking to find its footing. This third time was going to be a charm, and they were just getting started. Less than a year later, Dance Gavin Dance would release their sixth studio album titled Acceptance Speech.
and the rest, was historee.
This was the album that was used to introduce me to Dance Gavin Dance. Although they say you should never judge an album by its album cover, at first glance I knew I was in for something different. I have always had an ear for music of all genres and formulas and was, and am, always willing to give everything a listen. Lemme tell ya, as soon as I hit play I was hooked. This was the type of sound I loved having in my playlists, unsuspecting of the fact that this band would become one of my all time favorites. Whilst Acceptance Speech is a rock solid play from beginning to end, songs like Carve and Acceptance Speech were constantly in rotation or on repeat. Lucky for me, Dance Gavin Dance was performing on April 20, 2014 in San Diego California and I just had to snag tickets. So I got in my beatup 93 Lexus LS400 and made the trip from Anaheim to San Diego, just to catch these guys live and see what they're all about. All I gotta say is these guys did not disappoint. While I didn't record anything cause I wanted to see what they were made of, I did manage to record their encore performance of Rock Solid. I walked away from that show with an Uneasy Heart, knowing I had found something I had been missing in life. I drove all the way home with no music on and played their performance back in my head, from beginning to end.
After this show, Dance Gavin Dance had become my new mini-obsession, only because they put me on a scavenger hunt like mission to find all their albums on CD format whereever I could find em without having to order em online. I studied their discography from Album 1 to Album 6 and everything in between, looking to fill that void that wanted new music from this collective. And it wouldn't be long before they released an album cut/B-Side single called Pussy Vultures, one of my all time favorites. It was also the first time I got to say I witnessed DGD drop something fresh, like I was now part of the Strawberry club slash fanbase. It was a good tease that foretold something bigger was coming, as months later they would announce a new album was set to be released in 2015.
Dance Gavin Dance would air an ad with a short clip of their next single that sent literal tingles down my rock solid spine. I could sense they were already evolving, ready to continue pushing forward in this new era of the Dance Gavin Dance legacee. They would release a lyric video for On The Run, a track that showcased that this New Dance Gavin Dance had found it's new sound and was beginning to excel. The ending of On The Run featured layered and harmonized vocals, mirrorring the sounds of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (another favorite group of mine), as I was able to instantly spot the harmony they were attempting to replicate. Soon after they would release a video for Stroke God, Millionaire, an animated follow up to Death of the Robot with the Human Hair.
They would take us on a time traveling journey as we were taken back to the prehistoric era of animated dinosaurs, followed by a heavy rift through tributes to all their previous releases to date. Dance Gavin Dance was telling us that the DGD of the past was no more, and this DGD was here to stay. And although The Robot with The Human Hair was part of their previous eras, they were going to bring The Robot with them.
Once their album Instant Gratification dropped, I knew this would be a game changer. Not just for music, but for the band as well. Both Jon Mess' and Tilian Pearson's vocals sounded alot more comfortable with each other, complementing each other's deliveries as opposed to just trading off spots on the record. This chemistry would be evident in their performances, heavy with flashes of greatness to come. Instant Gratification may not be held as to high a regard as Acceptance Speech, but this is the album that catapulted the group to new heights, and they only kept going higher. They would embark on another headlining tour to promote the album, a tour that I unfortunately missed due to work and other obligations. But I wasn't about to miss the next tour they had announced towards the end of 2015.
Dance Gavin Dance would announce a tenth anniversary tour, enlisting the help of bands that featured previous members like Kurt Travis and Jonny Craig to come along for the ride. They would be performing in my city, Santa Ana California, and yall know I wasn't about to miss this. I hopped into my trusty beatdown Lexus and sped on over to the venue and got myself a ticket, a ticket I still have to this day.
December 13, 2015 was a night I would remember forever as I witnessed historee in the making. All the work DGD had put in the last ten years paid off with this monumentous occasion. All the struggles and all the internal turmoil had led to this. The tour would mostly sell-out its venues, bringing in fans from all parts of the world to be a part of historee. Dance Gavin Dance would run through their new fan favorites with Tilian Pearson, followed up by two transitions of their previous work bringing both Kurt Travis and Jonny Craig on stage to sing their most beloved DGD anthems. What felt like a journee through time and space, was fueled by nostalgia and the collected approval of everyone in attendance. Dance Gavin Dance would close each set with Uneasy Hearts Weight the Most with Jonny Craig, Kurt Travis, and Tilian Pearson singing individual verses, something that would never be done again. What made this performance special was that it would be the only time all five vocalists from the eras of yesterday and today would join forces to make the Dance Gavin Dance Super Group. And I got to fucken be there for it.
The success of this tenth anniversary tour proved that DGD was a true force in the world of music and had earned their spot. Their growth as musicians and as human beings was on display for every loyalist to see, whilst gaining a stronger following in the process.
I went home that night with my head high having had the time of my life. What made this night extra special was that I had just witnessed my favorite rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony celebrate the 20th anniversary of their E.1999 Eternal album at that same venue just seven months before. Hit two once in a lifetime concerts (IN MY CITY!!) the same year, both being two of the best shows I have ever been to date.
The impact that music has had on people like myself is what makes following bands and groups like this worth the squeeze. The dedication that goes into their craft helps them stand out, constantly bringing a fresh sound and look with every release. I was now in it for the long haul and down to ride for Dance Gavin Dance til the end, ready for whatever would come next. And it wouldn't be long before Dance Gavin Dance would begin a new chapter of their storee.
TO BE CONTINUED
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(this chapter of Storee Time with The Great Brown Hope has been brought to you by Four Loko. Drink Four Loko.)
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Playlist
Dance Gavin Dance "Stroke God, Millionaire"
Dance Gavin Dance "On The Run"
Dance Gavin Dance "The Jiggler"
Dance Gavin Dance "Strawberry Swisher Part 3"
Dance Gavin Dance "Death of a Strawberry"
Dance Gavin Dance "Variation"
Dance Gavin Dance "Tree Village"
Dance Gavin Dance ft. Matt Geise "Rock Solid"
Dance Gavin Dance "And Then I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman"
Dance Gavin Dance "Lemon Meringue Tie"
Dance Gavin Dance "The Robot With Human Hair Part 2 1/2"
Dance Gavin Dance ft. Nic Newsham "Uneasy Hearts Weight The Most"
Dance Gavin Dance "We Own The Night"
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