Drinking Boys and Girls Choir (DBGC) is a three-piece punk rock band from Daegu, South Korea, composed of bassist Meena Bae, guitarist Megan Nisbet, and drummer Myeong-Jin (MJ). They all contribute to vocals. Their show in Seattle was the final stop of their first headlining North American tour of 11 cities in 19 days. This band works hard! I had the pleasure of seeing them back in February so when I heard they were coming back on tour I had to see them again.
DBGC is all about energy and having fun. Meena is the exuberant ball of energy, Megan is the cool confident energy, and MJ’s tight disciplined drumming is the grounding energy that keeps all three pistons firing in unison. It’s clear they really enjoy playing their music together and I think that’s why its such a treat to watch them perform. With the constant smiles and eye contact between each other and the encouragement that cycles on stage, it’s like they are each other's cheerleaders. The crowd feeds off this and gets amped up. It’s really a sight to behold.
This tour was supporting their latest album release, Marriage License, which came out in July of 2024 on the label Damnably. They played a mix of their songs from Marriage License as well as from their 2018 release, Keep Drinking. Crowd interaction is an important part of the performance style. It’s well-documented for Meena to hop off stage and shred her guitar as she works her way around the crowd. She did this in Seattle, and the crowd loved it, including yours truly. They even took a drinking break to have a shot and a beer with the audience to celebrate the tour. One of the more special parts of the set is when they gave two fans, who made the trip to Seattle, grab the mic and Meena’s guitar to play along to one song. How many bands do that???
The gravity of this tour and what it means to the DBGC journey was shared by Meena during one interlude. She opened up to the crowd to let them know that when she and MJ started the band 12 years ago, they couldn’t imagine headlining a tour in North America. The sincerity and significance to them as musicians and humans was palpable and endearing. They love what they do and they really appreciate their fans for supporting them. They ended the night with a group selfie with the crowd to cap off a whirlwind tour across North America. Next time they tour in the US, I highly recommend you catch one of their shows and, if you’re lucky, have a drink with them.
