PREVIEW: DIVE Presents Keeps It Local, Loud, and Locked In This Summer
“I’m excited to explore new spaces in the region and bring larger acts to town, while still championing underground and experimental artists in smaller, more intimate rooms.”
DIVE’s been part of the local music fabric for years now, booking the kinds of shows that make a room feel electric. This summer, that work continues with a run of shows spread across some of the Capital Region’s most familiar venues, with a mix of longtime legends and artists you’ll wish you’d known sooner.
Since selling off No Fun earlier this year, founder August Rosa has shifted focus to the show-promotion side of the operation, booking a handful of carefully curated dates across some of the region’s most beloved rooms: Lark Hall, The Hangar on the Hudson, and, of course, the now-community-run fan favorite, No Fun.
“I’ve looked at this move as a way to grow — both personally and professionally. The goal moving forward is to do less, but bigger. I’m excited to explore new spaces in the region and bring larger acts to town, while still championing underground and experimental artists in smaller, more intimate rooms. That flexibility is something I’m really looking forward to.”
That balance between legacy acts and local up-and-comers, between sold-out nights and early shows where everyone knows each other’s name, is what makes the summer run from DIVE Presents feel like a natural extension of everything that’s come before.
Things start off on June 22 with Delicate Steve at No Fun. It’s an early one, doors at 4. Steve’s one of those guitarists you recognize instantly, even if you don’t know why. His new album, Delicate Steve Sings, doesn’t have vocals, but it still somehow feels like it’s singing the whole time. He’s played with everyone from Paul Simon to Miley Cyrus, but this one’s all his. Local support comes from psych-funk troublemakers Front Biz and Russel the Leaf, who’s been quietly writing some of the best songs in town for years now.
On July 12, Os Mutantes roll through Lark Hall. If you know, you know. If you don’t, they basically helped invent Brazilian psychedelic rock and were a huge part of the Tropicália movement. Their sets are still wild, colorful, chaotic, and full of life. Opening is Pinc Louds, fronted by Claudi, who used to play on NYC subways and now packs out rooms with a weird little punk cabaret act that’s way more heartfelt than it has any right to be.
August 8 is Thursday at Lark Hall, and it’s already sold out. They’re only doing three headlining shows this summer between stadium gigs with My Chemical Romance and Death Cab For Cutie, and this is one of them. The new track “White Bikes” is their first release in over a decade, and it sounds like they never left. I Am the Avalanche opens, bringing that gritty Long Island energy, and Blood Vulture, the heavy, theatrical side project from the Two Minutes to Late Night crew, gets things going early.
Everything closes out August 22 at The Hangar with Pile, NNAMDÏ, and local noise-rock trio Prize. Pile’s new record, All Fiction, is murky and beautiful and full of stuff you’ll notice on the fifth listen. NNAMDÏ is basically impossible to pin down, going from orchestral pop to glitchy hip-hop in one breath, and Prize is loud, messy, and exactly the right kind of opener for a night like that.
Let’s face it, summer’s short. These are shows worth leaving the house for. The ones you’ll think about when the snow starts falling and you catch yourself saying, “God, I miss summer.” Just good lineups in the right rooms, put together by people who still give a shit.
For more information, visit www.diveupstate.com
