Photos and words by Samantha Skapin

Thursday night I had the chance to check out DNCE at a packed House of Blues in Cleveland for their North American Tour. An incredible group called The Skins opened for them.

The Skins opened up the show with a ton of energy, as the band members took the stage and jammed for a bit. The two front members, Bay Li and Kaya Nico ran out doing a dance routine and hyped up the crowd. I had not heard of these guys before, but I was pretty impressed from what I saw that night. The Brooklyn based group had almost a slight resemblance of Salt-n-Pepa mixed with contemporary RnB which was really cool to see. They played a pretty long set, which included their song “Bury Me” (which features D.R.A.M) that’s been climbing the charts on streaming services such as Spotify.  These guys definitely brought a lot of energy to the packed House of Blues and are definitely worth checking out. Be sure to check out their newest EP, “Still Sleep“, because I suspect you are going to hear these guys on the radio A LOT soon.

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Next up was of course DNCE, which the crowded venue was all anticipating.  These guys had quite the year in 2016, as they put out a debut album, a hit single, and even played Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. They started off the set with two members of the DNCE crew coming out to the Star Wars Intro with Stormtrooper helmets on waving DNCE flags. The members of the band then joined them, also wearing helmets and having a quick lightsaber duel before they began the set with their song “Naked”.

Of course the crowd went crazy when Joe Jonas (of ya know, just a small recent Disney boy band called The Jonas Brothers) took off his helmet and began singing. I’ll be honest and say this show was probably one of the craziest shows I’ve ever been to energy wise. It was hard to keep track of who to watch because one minute bassist Cole Whittle would be doing a headstand on stage, and the next guitarist JinJoo Lee would be playing a ridiculous solo with confetti spraying everywhere.

They played a lot off of their new album, including songs like “Body Moves“, “Toothbrush“, and “Good Day”. They also mixed in a few tributes as well, including “Let’s Dance” and “Freedom” for both David Bowie and George Michael, who recently passed. DNCE was so incredibly solid live, and it was great to see them be so interactive with the crowd the entire show. They finished their set, with their infamous summer banger, “Cake By The Ocean” as confetti went off once again as Joe Jonas waved the DNCE flag once more for the night. If you are a little hesitant to see these guys as I was before the show began, don’t be. Take the chance to see them, because this was one of the most energetic and well produced shows I have attended. Be sure to check out their debut album DNCE as well!