D’Kuypa

 

Gig Reviews

Academy Unsigned 214
Academy 3
Despite having been together only three months, D’Kuypa have a clearly defined sound, and two obvious, major assets; their lead guitarist is awesome, and their drummer is ferocious, breaking his sticks within the first 2 songs. The end result is a set of powerful, mid-tempo songs with classic rock and 70s metal edges, and with impressive structures; the shred lead and sweeping arpeggios under the vocals of ‘Stain’, the harmonized ending of ‘Anymore’, the short drum solos of ‘Static’. Whilst it sometimes feels forced and formulaic, with time to mature, and perhaps a desire to move beyond the boundaries of their genre to give their music that something special, D’Kuypa could be invading mp3 players very soon.

 

 Academy Unsigned 288
Academy 3
29/05/08
I was intrigued to see what D’Kuypa would be like after reading the above review, and I’m happy to agree that they are indeed a strong line-up. Confident vocals, beautiful lead guitar and excellent drumming all prevailed consistently and went down really well with the crowd at Academy 3. There were moments though (largely in the first two tracks, which were very similar to each other) where I felt that these guys as musicians were better than their songs. But as new material was introduced, the bar was raised; with the melody of ‘Falling’ providing a good showcase for their frontman’s voice. ‘Don’t take what I don’t need’ picked up the pace with its driving, upbeat riff and rhythm and Bon Jovi elements in the lead guitar, and the sharp drumming bursts and harmonized lead lines of ‘Static’ ended the show with a flourish.

7/10

Set list:

1. ‘Justify the Line’
2. ‘Alone’
3. ‘Falling’
4. ‘Don’t Take What I Dont Need’
5. ‘Greenstar’
6. ‘Static’

Polly