by Lexi Bissonnette
“God it feels so good,” says Danny Fornasa, lead singer of the local indie rock duo D & M. But was he talking about kickstarting their first world tour with bandmate Matt Klahre or playing at World Live Cafe? Realistically he could have been referring to both but Fornasa meant getting to play in their hometown on Sunday night. “We live in Philly and it’s gonna be extra good because we have this full band with us tonight,” he says as he gestures to the guys seated on the couches in the tiny room backstage.
Normally D & M is a duo, but for Sunday’s performance they have some backup- a drummer, keyboardist and three guys on horns. However, when they head out on their European tour it will just be Fornasa and Klahre. But a hometown performance meant a little something extra.
Though the boys were laid and back and cracking jokes about everything from beer to ladies’ men, they felt playing at home was definitely different. “More nervous,” says Klahre about what it felt like and Fornasa shared similar feelings saying it made him “more anxious”.
But nerves, anxiety and a broken guitar string didn’t slow this duo down. They have a natural stage presence and took wonderful advantage of having a full band with them. Coming out on stage after a night filled with great performances by Blue Soul and SHMNS and joking with the crowd, the group was ready to go. Giving the audience a treat off their new LP- Sex, Love and Rock and Roll, which drops this fall, the boys began with ‘Dirty Love’. Both were excited to start off the night with their favorite song, which hits iTunes on June 18th, because according to Fornasa, “It’s rock and roll and we love to rock and roll.”
The crowd moved a little bit closer when the boys began to play, forming a tight “U” shape around the stage to best hear the songs and all dancing along to the new hit. The tight group spread out a little bit as the band moved onto play something older, ‘Delawana.’
“Feel free to joke and dance around and enjoy yourself,” jokes Fornasa as he noted the broken string on his guitar. The sound shifted effortlessly into a new song, ‘Ask me to Stay’ with the crowd swaying along to the slower beat. The lighting crew had everything set to go, using bright white stage lights with intermediate reds flickering the more up tempo songs and switching to dim lighting when needed for the soulful sounding ‘The South of France’.
Livening up the atmosphere they welcome out Brandon Dost to help perform ‘Tell Your Boyfriend’. The upbeat song had everyone clapping along and sipping their beers. Dost and Fornasa’s voices blended seamlessly together for the fun, new song.
Trying to tune his broken guitar before playing ‘Wait for Me’, Fornasa jokingly asks the lighting crew for something to set the mood. “Can we get some low sex lights…alright feel free to touch each other.”
D & M draws inspiration from Philly “in little ways all the time,” says Fornasa. What better way to end a hometown concert than with a song entitled ‘Philadelphia’ ? Announcing the last song, the crowd awed and moved closer to the stage once more. But it was lyrics from a previous song, ‘Ask me to Stay’ that summed up the feeling in the room. “Ask me to stay and I’ll stay.” Because the band’s next move would be onto London and away from good old Philadelphia for the summer.
“It ends up being worth it because it’s always more fun to play for more people,” says Fornasa, and he was right, the concert they put on was worth it for all in attendance in the overly air conditioned building.
A great performance at home doesn’t mean this duo isn’t excited to take on Europe. “It means everything,” Fornasa and Klahre say simultaneously. With a US tour from last summer under their belts they knew it was the next place to go and would be playing more intimate venues, just the duo, and with plenty of new songs to share.
