DIIV hits Bushwick’s Market Hotel

by Hannah Zeitner, junior entertainment editor

The music venue Market Hotel, located at 1140 Myrtle Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, recently held three consecutive DIIV concerts. The first concert was on Thursday, March 3rd and the last one was on Saturday, March 5th.

On Saturday, Painted Zeros and Surfbort were the opening acts for DIIV.

DIIV is a band that originated out of Brooklyn, NYC in 2011. The band is made up of five members: Zachary Cole Smith [vocal/guitar], Andrew Bailey [guitar], Devin Ruben Perez [bass], Colin Caulfield [keyboard, guitar], and Ben Newman [drums]. The band is currently under the label Captured Tracks and have two studio albums: Oshin, which was released in 2012, and Is the Is Are, that was released in February 2016.

Painted Zeros, a NYC band, is composed of Katie Lau [vocal], Jim Hill [bass], and Jared Kaner [drums]. They have two studio albums out on Don Giovanni Records:

S V A L B A R D which was released in 2014, and Floriography, which was released in 2015.

Surfbort, back at it again, is Brooklyn-based, hugely DIY and is composed of Dani Miller [vocal], S.S. Powell [drums], and Charlotte Wimberley [guitar]. They have a single titled Trash, that was released in September 2015 as well as a self titled 7 inch that was released in January of 2016 on Slope Records.  

Getting off the J train at Myrtle Avenue, the venue was about a block away and the entrance was just a door in the wall of a building; very easy to miss if one doesn’t know where to look. Entering, a concert goer has to walk up a flight of stairs and through a door to get to the main room. The main room had a small stage and windows all around it, which provided a view of trains coming and going from the surrounding station.

The first band to perform was Surfbort. Although they were missing a member, Matt Picola, because he is no longer part of the group, his spot was filled in by Alex Kilgore. This performance was also a bit of a special occasion, for it was Wimberley’s first show back since being away. As always, Surfbort performed with an extreme amount of energy. Miller yelled out speeches before certain songs, and at one point jumped into the crowd to sing with some fans. They played hits such as “War,” “Trash,” “Trippin’ Over Babies,” and “YDNFC.”

After their performance, Miller was nervous about the quality of it since she was losing her voice.

“Did at least some of that sound good?” Miller questioned.

All of it sounded good though, the raspiness of her voice actually added to the aesthetic of her and the band’s performance.

In between sets, many of the concert goers noticed that even though it was a sold-out show, this venue wasn’t too jam packed.

When Painted Zeros came on, they played a very good set. Their music wasn’t as loud and thrashy as Surfbort’s, but it was very enjoyable. It was also closer to the vibe that DIIV gave off. Lau’s vocals sounded very close to the band’s studio recordings and her voice traveled throughout the entire venue.

After a short waiting period, the headlining band, DIIV, came on stage. Their performance was superb and it was everything one would expect. Smith, wearing a white shirt with blocky black stripes with some sort of logo and strange patterned pajama-esque pants, delivered his songs with an energy that the whole crowd enjoyed. DIIV played songs from their old albums as well as their new one. Notable songs that were played were “Dopamine,” “Is There is Are,” “Bent (Roi’s Song),” and “Oshin (Subsume).”

“Every band played with an awesome amount of energy. I really liked how the venue was small and had all those windows, it felt very intimate,” junior Elizabeth Browne said.

Overall, this concert was a very awesome experience. This venue is definitely one to visit if one likes intimate venues that have an odd (in a good way) vibe.

DIVV will playing New York again at Webster Hall on May 7th.