Despite their name, they don’t sound like crap.
I’m a Nashville native and a lover of all things rock and roll, so it’s only natural that I’d have an affinity for Diarrhea Planet. Offering fast paced riffs and enough energy to light your apartment, this amazing band never ceases to amaze with their relentless onstage presence.
To see a DP show is an experience unlike any other. Twice having seen them in Nashville, I’ve been kicked in the face, had my belongings trampled and generally been tossed around like a rag doll all in the name of good fun. Before the fun of Friday night’s International show even began, I got the chance to sit down with the rock gods and hear firsthand what their brand of “courage rock” was all about.
“(It’s) rock that makes you feel like you just saw ‘School of Rock,'” guitarist Emmett Miller said, plucking casually on his instrument as he spoke. “It makes you want to climb up a mountain.”
Admitting to such musical influences as Fugazi and Nirvana, lead singer and guitarist Jordan Smith sees the band as moving beyond the constrictive genre classifications of either metal or punk.
“We took punk’s speed and aggression and simplicity and tried to turn it into other things,” Smith explained.
While the band was more than happy to speak on past tour experiences and musical influences, they stopped short of elaborating on their unique and often derided name of Diarrhea Planet, with Miller simply noting that “it was a really dark time in everybody’s life” when the name for the group was chosen.
Finally parting ways with the band, I made my way to the center of the audience to soak in what the opening acts had to offer. After an upbeat and entertaining opener from Knoxville natives Crumbsnatchers, The Glory Fires took to the stage and gave a mostly adequate performance; inspiring the occasional tossing of beer bottles by the more excitable members of the crowd.
By the time Diarrhea Planet finally emerged onto the scene, the people were ready and willing to get down and dangerous to the sound of their rock and roll. Before the opening riffs had even torn into the crowd, a mosh pit extending the length of the venue had formed, rocking nearly every single concertgoer to their cores and if they weren’t careful, onto the floor.
DP’s Nashville shows are famous for being devoid of any security guards or sanity, with the only thing separating the band from the audience is the wave of noise emitting from their amplifiers. Yet on Friday night, a line of stern faced, unhappy security guards maintained a metal fence separating the crowd from the rockers above. With a mosh pit inevitably forming at the concert’s outset, the entire show became a contest between crowd and security as the audience desperately tried to push the metal fence to the stage’s edge.
With fans pushing back security to the adrenaline pumping sound of “Lite Dream,” Smith eventually had to step in. Threatening to “f***ing stop playing” if he saw any signs of unnecessary violence from security, the night saw its fair share of tense moments, including one guard removing his shirt mid-concert in what was certainly a meaningless, macho gesture.
After things calmed down a bit, the audience again allowed themselves to resume the good time, singing along to the ridiculous yet oddly satisfying lyrics of “Ghost with a Boner” as well as “Separations.”
Drenched in sweat with a voice hoarse from screaming, the crowd was ready and willing for an encore by the end of D-Planet’s set. The International, however, seemingly couldn’t wait to get this destructive band out of their venue and possibly their city, as the lights quickly turned on by the end of their last song, effectively destroying any chance for a second round of rock and roll madness.
Knoxville just couldn’t handle what Diarrhea Planet was dishing.
