Perhaps you've heard of DNCE—you're surely familiar with lead singer Joe Jonas, the eldest, fearless leader of now-defunct band of brothers the JoBros.
Although he and his brothers disbanded in 2013, Joe Jonas hasn't stopped sharing his precious gift of song. Last year DNCE dropped its debut single, "Cake by the Ocean," a confusing ode to what has to be an unpleasant experience. Try as he might, Jonas can't make sandy, windswept dessert sound enjoyable.
I'm still not really sure what happened last night at Holocene. The warehouse space was nearly unrecognizable—multiple soundboards, blinding lights, and countless beardo weirdo technicians transformed the venue into a Vevo Lift-sponsored hellscape. By attending, each audience member signed away the rights to use their image and likeness as it was at Holocene on the eve of Sunday 3/13/16 to Vevo LLC. Meaning, the crowd might be featured in a DNCE music video.
Watching DNCE's set felt like watching a band in a movie—like Michael Cera's band Sex Bob-omb in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but much less cool. They brought PG-13 ("This song's about playing doctor," "This song is about being hungover"), groovy, mainstream indie-pop to the thirstiest of Vevo Lift audiences. The sold-out show was intimate (I guesstimate about 200 attendees). Despite their fervor, most onlookers were too occupied with documenting Jonas than actually dancing.
DNCE played no more than 10 or 15 songs, their set's standout being a mashup of TLC hits "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs." But then they took a nosedive with a jarringly terrible rendition of the Police's "Roxanne" (complete with wild red lights bathing the Holocene in an anxiety-inducing, Black Lodge-esque sheen). Jonas looked on impatiently as his oddly-coifed bass player ran off the stage and into the bar, and later riffed a lengthy bass solo. Jonas is a purebred pop star, and he knows how to work a crowd. But DNCE's true star is guitarist JinJoo Lee—by far the band's most talented musician—who has also toured with Charli XCX, Ciara, and many more.
After closing out the night with "Cake by the Ocean," DNCE took numerous bows to Queen's "We Are the Champions" playing in the background before slipping out Holocene's side door. As the stunned audience left (at no later than 9:30 pm) they were greeted with free swag (DNCE T-shirts, sticker/posters, pins). One exiting fan remarked, "Second best concert ever."
