We knew the last night at Death By Audio was going to get pretty raw, with about a million people cramming in to say goodbye to the DIY venue even if they’d never been before. But what we didn’t plan for was seeing the line get cut off after just 80 lucky folks walked through the door. And less than a year from when we last surveyed the post-285 Kent DIY scene, one of our favorite venues is now closed.
As the week progressed the lines for DBA’s tantalizingly top-secret lineups grew ever longer. Once word got out the venue was bringing in the likes of Protomartyr, Thee Oh Sees, and Nots, any hedgers were convinced there would be nothing but amazing lineups in store.
Unfortunately, we counted amongst the vast majority of hundreds of people queued up in the freezing cold who were turned away. Curses! But, luckily, we came prepared and sent our two pals who did make the cut packing with memory-making disposable cameras that could survive the raucous, sweaty, beer-soaked pit brought by Grooms, A Place to Bury Strangers, JEFF the Brotherhood, and Lightning Bolt.
And hey, we’re actually happy about the cut off. As photographer Alex Hess said, “I like not suffocating to death by fashion punks.”
Chances are you didn’t make it in on Saturday night unless you counted amongst the crew at the front drinking whiskey and cider and bundled up right (thank you, photographers Alex Hess and Jon Brown, for your courage and resilience). But click through the photos below for a taste of the scene.