Dance Gavin Dance, The Home Team, Belmont, Dwellings

The Criterion, Oklahoma City, OK

June 15, 2025

Review and Gallery by Ally Arens

Alternative metal act Dance Gavin Dance are currently in the midst of their Return of the Robot tour across the United States, bringing their unique blend of groovy instrumentals and heavy vocal stylings to fans all across the country as they gear up for the release of their 11th studio album, Pantheon, on September 12th. Accompanying them on all dates of the tour are Dwellings, Belmont, and The Home Team, with all four bands joining forces for a high energy show that is not one to be missed. The Encore Nights had the pleasure of catching the tour as it stopped at The Criterion in Oklahoma City, OK, and what followed was an amazing night of rock music and camaraderie.

First to take the stage was rock band Dwellings, who kicked things off with a bang as they performed tracks like “IDGAF2”, “Pick Up Before You Go”, and “Gold Leaf” – the latter of which they threw the audience for a loop with by initially playing the opening riff of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” before launching into their track. They had a really fun energy, and are worth showing up early to see if you’re coming out to this tour.

Next up were Chicago-based rockers Belmont, who are on the heels of the release of their latest album, 2024’s Liminal, kept the energy up as they jammed their way through tracks such as Liminal’s title track, “Bowser’s Castle”, and “Overstepping”, even prompting the night’s multiple crowd-surfers to begin their fun. Belmont put on an extremely energetic set as well, and were very fun to watch.

The last of the support acts to take the stage, and the band that I was personally most looking forward to seeing, was Seattle-based “heavy pop” band The Home Team, who have been having an absolutely monumental couple of years. The 4-piece just released the deluxe edition of last year’s The Crucible of Life on June 13, and do not show any signs of slowing down any time soon. Groovy, dance-able yet riff-heavy tracks such as “Brag”, new single “Worthy”, and “Loud” got the crowd jumping and moving, while “Walk This World With Me” had everyone shining their phone lights in poignant harmony. I’d seen THT once before on last year’s Summer School tour, and once again, they absolutely blew me away with their talent and stage presence – if you have an opportunity to see them live, 10/10 I fully recommend.

Finally, it was time for the stars of the show to take the stage, which they did to roars of applause as the opening notes to “Speed Demon” rang through the venue. The entire band was firing on all cylinders, with co-vocalists Andrew Wells and Jon Mess sounding absolutely kick-ass while the rest of the band riffed off of each other phenomenally as they performed a very high energy set that kept the crowd begging for more. Fans of the Tillian Pearson-era of the band may be disappointed, as none of those tracks made the setlist, but what ensued instead was a cool mixture of throwbacks and newness, with tracks from the Downtown Battle Mountain albums such as “The Backwards Pumpkin Song” and “The Robot With Human Hair Pt. 2 ½” intermingled with newest singles “Midnight at McGuffy’s” and “All The Way Down”, among others.

Dance Gavin Dance’s sound is so unique that if you’re not already a fan going into a show, I can’t guarantee that you’ll be won over, but if you ARE a fan, then this tour is definitely not one to be missed. And if you’re a fan of one of the support acts, go ahead and stick around – you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. The Return of the Robot tour picks up tonight in Albuquerque, NM before continuing along the West Coast, concluding in San Diego, CA on June 29. Tickets for all upcoming dates can be found on the band’s website.