DMA’S @ The Yard Manchester – New tunes and old anthems for an intimate crowd
Featured image: Subhaan Khan
Fresh from releasing their self-titled fifth studio album, DMA’S, on Friday, Tommy O’Dell, Matt Mason and Johnny Took arrive at The Yard for a show that feels intimate, celebratory and, at times, genuinely overwhelming. With a billboard above the band’s favourite Manchester restaurant Kabana, and a packed local crowd waiting, the evening has the sense of something bigger than a standard album-launch stop. For a band that has played Manchester more than 100 times and describes the city as almost a second home, this room clearly means something.
Opening with ‘Killing Time’, the band ease into the stripped-back set. Mason’s dobro and finger-picked guitar riffs give the early songs a warm, folk-rooted texture, nodding back to the sounds that shaped the band when they first met. Even from the first songs, the crowd are already fully locked in. These are not passive listeners waiting to be won over; they know the words, feel the emotion, and are ready to give the band everything back.
‘The Glow’ is an early highlight. Its live vocals sound absolutely stunning in such a close setting. The intimacy of The Yard makes every note feel sharper, and the performance shows exactly why DMA’S songs can feel so huge even without the scale of a festival stage behind them.
Pushing things into a heavier, more riff-driven space is ‘Heatin Park’. And the chorus is belted straight back at them by the room. It is one of those moments where the line between band and crowd blurs completely. ‘Silver’ is as immense as can be expected from the fan favourite. Some songs are here to stay in a setlist forever, and this is one of them. Hearing it live in such a compact space only makes it hit harder, with the kind of emotional force that explains why DMA’S have built such a fiercely loyal following.
The new material holds its own alongside the classics. ‘My Baby’s Place’ brings a softer moment from the new album, with Mason’s backing vocals adding depth and warmth. ‘Emailz’ is following with a more tender, almost heartbroken feel, while still carrying a sense of friendship and devotion in its lyrics. The line “I’m doing that for you / I’m doing that for me” stands out as one of the night’s gentler emotional pulls.
Before playing another new album track, the band admit that trying out fresh songs is always a little scary, especially when some of them have barely been played live before. That vulnerability works in their favour. Rather than feeling untested, the songs feel alive, as if the audience are being invited into the beginning of a new chapter with them. ‘Hurracane’ keeps the flow moving beautifully, its guitar working to bridge the softer acoustic textures and the bigger singalong moments. ‘Lay Down’, taken from Hills End, brings things firmly back to a signature DMA’S song, and live it carries the energy that the band know exactly how much it means to the people in front of them.
Introducing ‘Step Up the Morphine’, the band speak about working out the arrangement, their YouTube acoustic performance, and the famous El Alamein Fountain in King’s Cross, Sydney. Which the first track on the new album is named after it. They joke that jet lag is the real reason they are sitting down and admit they do not usually talk this much, but the relaxed setup only makes the performance feel more personal. The acoustic version of ‘Step Up the Morphine’ is incredible. It is quieter in arrangement but not in impact, proving how much power DMA’S can create without needing to push everything to full volume.
‘Windows’ offers another glimpse at where DMA’S are heading. By this point, the set becomes a balance between nostalgia and renewal: a band looking back at what built them while clearly excited by what they have just made. Before the final stretch, the band thank the crowd for everything they have given them and for listening to the tunes. They speak about how Manchester makes them feel at home whenever they return, and the sincerity of that moment is hard to miss.
Closing with ‘Feels Like 37’ feels like a thank-you to the fans who have been there since the start. Released in 2015, it remains one of DMA’S earliest and most beloved songs, and hearing a room belt it back 11 years later must be next-level for the band. It is the perfect ending, rooted in the connection that has always made DMA’S more than just another guitar band.
At The Yard, DMA’S prove that their songs can still feel massive in the smallest of rooms. The new album material sounds confident, the older tracks hit with full force, and the Manchester crowd remind them exactly why this city has become such a second home.
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