On May 13, 2016, Dance Gavin Dance released the live album, Tree City Sessions, which consisted of 12 songs from across the band's catalog performed live at Pus Cavern Recording Studios in Sacramento, California. The album was produced and mixed by the band's former guitarist Josh Benton and Joe Johnston. The live album's release gained much fanfare and called for the group to record a second Tree City Sessions.
On April 24, 2020, the band released their ninth full-length studio album, Afterburner, which was preceded by four singles; "Prisoner", "Strawberry's Wake", "Lyrics Lie", and "Three Wishes". In support of the album, the group originally announced a 2020 spring tour to take place from March to May with Animals as Leaders, Issues, Veil of Maya, and Royal Coda, however this was postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On July 17, 2020, the band performed their first online concertstreaming event.
On March 4, 2021, Rise Records released the Tree City Sessions 2 live performance video for "Man Of the Year".[1]
On December 1, 2020, the band announced the Tree City Sessions 2 virtual concertstreaming event, which premiered on December 19, 2020.[2] The concert was filmed on location at the Tower Bridge in Sacramento in early November 2020. The group's setlist was a fan-voted affair.[3] The streaming event included a pre-show, which featured Sirius XM radio host Caity Babs interviewing the band and visiting significant locations around the greater Sacramento area.[4]
