Newly-formed band DNCE wowed Dallasites at its Nov. 8 show at the House of Blues’s Cambridge Room.
The disco, groove, pop, soul, party influenced music of DNCE got the crowd dancing and jumping with songs off its latest EP, “SWAAY.”
Crowd favorites included “Pay Your Rent,” “Toothbrush” and “Cake by the Ocean.” The standout, however, was DCNE’s ’90s cover-medley of “Chasing Waterfalls” and “Scrub,” and its later covers of “Roxanne,” “Kiss” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.” The final cover solidified DCNE’s nod to James Brown, hinting at the soul influences in its pop music.
The band is an eclectic one, as seen in its lyrics, performance style and its aptly titled tour name: “The Greatest Tour Ever, Tour.” At points, frontman Joe Jonas was seen dancing on platforms, band members laid on the floor and continued playing, cardboard cutouts were thrown into the air, and confetti cannons were fired. It seemed like this was all done to have a good time on stage and personify the mood of DNCE’s music.
Despite its electrifying on-stage presence, DNCE seems to be placing music first in its newest venture.
Each member of DNCE has experience in the spotlight performing at larger venues. Jonas is known for his role with Disney and the Jonas Brothers; guitarist JinJoo Lee was Jordin Sparks’ lead guitarist; Cole Whittle studied at the Berklee College of Music and played with the band Semi Precious Weapons; drummer Jack Lawless played with the Jonas Brothers.
But Jonas and his band mates are making a place for themselves in music that is all their own. DNCE’s single “Cake by the Ocean” was released Sept. 18 and is already climbing the U.S. charts, reaching and staying in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks.
The only criticism of the band is the repetition of sounds, as each new song sounded much like the other. This could be remedied with a few slower jams or by incorporating different rifts and backbeats. However, as a whole, the concert was an enjoyable and energetic one.
For its recent start, DNCE has a strong following of fans that know every song and word. It will be interesting to see where the four are months, or even weeks, from now.
