“Rage the Workday Away”
Dopapod
at
Martin’s Downtown
4-2-2013
Written by Becca Boo Cranwell
Pictures by Roger Gupta
People aren’t always up to get down on a Tuesday night. What with work at 9 a.m. and all. But when you live in a small town like Roanoke, VA, you have to take what you can get when you can get it. 
Luckily, Martin’s Downtown has a good habit of picking up some of the best bands passing through our fair city. Despite it being a chilly Tuesday night, a large crowd of locals gathered at the Roanoke venue to heat up the night with rocking electro-funk, brought straight to your eardrums by Dopapod, from Brooklyn, NY.
Patchwork laden listeners, hula hoopers, and the like fill the venue chattering excitedly as they wait for sound-check to finish. One fantastic attribute of Dopapod is that they have immediate-dancers (i.e. none of that sitting around waiting for the “right time” to gravitate to the dance floor—everybody is already there). They get you off your feet in a hurry, and they have to considering they open for regional favorites like Papadosio, Ultraviolet Hippopotamus, and The Mantras.
The group fuses steady beats with celestial keyboarding. When listening, it feels as if you already know each song—even if you’ve never heard it in your life. There is something strangely familiar about Dopapod’s tunes. Your body instantly knows how to move, you can’t stop it. Even though your mind is saying “what is this I’m hearing!?” your head is already swimming through the precisely played guitar riffs.
A funky beat pops through your body while futuristic Pink Floydian notes draw you into a heady sway that has a tendency of turning you into a dancing robot for a measure or two. As if robotic tones aren’t enough, Dopapod brings their own light show to mesmerize the audience. Occasionally blinded by the light, and consumed by mechanical musings—you might get lost in your own mind and assume you’ve been transported to a digital dimension far away. And shit, maybe you have been!
As the energy rises and pulses through the crowd, tightly packed around the stage—the beat drops along with every dancing body on the floor. The beauty of Dopapod’s music is that it isn’t overly lyrical. Some songs have lyrics—but you can hop onto the dance floor and enjoy yourself without having to think too much about what is being said. The music flows through you uninterrupted: no confused-listener-hang-ups “what did he say? What was that? Did 
he just say: hotdog crunch cake!?” Don’t get me wrong, the songs with lyrics are great—but the ones without are what really gets your body and mind flowing together. That beautiful moment when your mind and body are moving in the same direction, to the same beat, and you are perfectly content—that is what Dopapod brings to the table.
As you can see, these guys are seriously getting around—so go grab a listen before the shows get taken over by flat-brim hats and neon leg warmers. Just kidding rave kids, you can come too.
