Dance Gavin Dance weighs ins on banana-suit controversy before Denver show

There’s a semi-controversy brewing in the underground about whether or not banana suits are appropriated concert attire. After the Baltimore hardcore band End It recently directed its audience to rip one such costume off of a fun-loving fan, the dividing lines have been defined — hardcore isn’t so fruit friendly, while metalcore openly encourages dressing however you want for the occasion.

Dance Gavin Dance guitarist-vocalist Andrew Wells confirmed the metalcore ethos, as the long-running band is used to seeing people in all types of garb, particularly bananas, whenever and wherever they play.

“There’s a ton of banana people in our audience,” he says, referencing the group’s recent Warped Tour DC stop that was especially yellow. “I was like, ‘Yo, banana people, you’re welcome here. You’re weird. You’re an outcast. You’re what society deems as weird because you want to dress up in a banana costume. That’s what rock is for.’

“Rock’s historically been since the dawn of time an oasis for the outcasts. You’re welcome here. Come fly your freak flag with us, and we’ll have a good time,” Wells continues. “Honestly, if I played a whole show and everyone was in a banana suit, I would be stoked. That would be sick.”

In reiterating the stance, he calls for everyone in Denver to show up in their banana best when Dance Gavin Dance takes the Fillmore on Monday, June 22. Horse the Band, Wolf & Bear and Novelists are also on the bill.

The metalcore machine — which also includes vocalist-guitarist Will Swan, drummer Matt Mingus and harsh vocalist Jon Mess — is riding high with a twofer of fresh material in 11^th studio album “Pantheon,” released in September, and last month’s “Tree City Sessions 3,” another collection of revamped takes on classics and deep cuts.

Wells, who’s been with the band in some capacity since 2015, saw the “Tree City” process as an opportunity to put his spin on some of the older tracks that vocalist Tilian Pearson first laid down, such as “Bloodsucker” from 2018.

“That was a suggestion from me. I wanted to polish up my higher register and showcase what I could do on the Tilian stuff,” he explains. “That was a song Martin [Bianchini, touring guitarist] and I had written on the ‘Artificial Selection’ album, so we were able to play and record the song that we wrote.”

Looking back also allowed Dance Gavin Dance to forge forward with “Pantheon,” a more reflective album than recent releases, Wells admits.

“It was an opportunity for us as a band to revisit the roots of the band, when the band was playing to 100-cap clubs and it was just this alternative style of music that was very unique and different. Some people hated it, some people loved it, but it was this authentically post-hardcore sound, that come from these roots,” he shares.  

“When we were revisiting these older songs and doing ‘Tree City’ and also writing ‘Pantheon,’ it was that full-circle moment of doing what we’re passionate about again, exploring new themes and musical territory and getting back to the roots, so to speak, especially as a collaboration,” Wells continues. “It was all of us in the same mindset together working towards the same goals.”

And in Year 21, the band is the “happiest and healthiest” it’s ever been, as he sees it.

“We’re a group of musicians who’s committed to making the best art that we possibly can,” Wells says. “There’s a perseverance to this band.”

But, he adds, they wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for the people in front of the stage, dressing up as bananas and whatever else.

“The external factor is our fans,” Wells concludes. “I think the fan’s abilities to rally and support the band and come out to shows can’t be overstated.”

Dance Gavin Dance, with Horse the Band, Wolf & Bear and Novelists, 5 p.m. Monday, June 22, Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St. Tickets are $60.