Deerhunter: Got Noise? (continued)

Well, it seems "very soon" turned into almost four weeks. I do apologize. It's difficult trying to find free time in between work and school. Also, my desire to want to write has been lacking somewhat lately. Hopefully I'll get back into a more consistent groove but we'll see. Back to the Deerhunter show from last month!

So, I believe I was just beginning to discuss how loud their music got at times. It wasn't fun afterward but the set was so enjoyable that I hardly cared. I was only familiar with the Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. album so I was happy to hear quite a bit of material played from them. The vocals were sadly a little low in the mix of sound at times which was disappointing because Bradford comes up with really good vocal parts. But they seemed to improve as they went on. Some of the songs I remembered that they played were "Little Kids", "Nothing Ever Happened" (a personal favorite of mine), and then when they returned for the obligatory encore they played "Cover Me (Slowly)" and "Agoraphobia", much to this writer's delight. Oh, and I forget which song it was they were playing but the entire band was getting really really into it (might have been the last song of the set now that I think about it), and the drummer ended up hitting the cymbal so hard that it fell off. Awesomeness.

Much of the between song banter was rather entertaining too. I unfortunately forgot most of what was said but Vampire Weekend happened to be playing that night (or maybe the night after) and Bradford had a funny joke about owing them money and that they might slash their tires too.

All in all, a really good show. And to put icing on the cake, I was able to snag a poster at the end and my friend Heidi and I got to meet the band outside after the show. They were actually talking for quite awhile too. They're very mellow and genuine people so that's always a joy to discover. Do be sure to listen to this band via their studio albums or live show, though preferably both. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Oh, and as a head's up, I was recently at the Mono show at the El Rey Theater so expect a review of that show in the days to come.

By the way, if you've never heard Deerhunter before then you'd be hard pressed to find a better song to get you introduced to the band:

Deerhunter: Got Noise?

April 14th, The Glass House, Pomona



The Glass House has been one of my favorite venues for awhile now. It's small and intimate design makes it a superior setting for live music. It's also the only place I know of where I can park for free. Plus, it's only about 35 minutes from where I live which beats the heck out of driving to LA. Don't get me wrong, I love driving to LA but it's horrible driving back late at night since I inevitably want to fall asleep during the drive...not so good.

So, this time around we had Deerhunter playing along with the band Bleached, which I've learned is a much more difficult word to pronounce than it may seem at first glance. Bleached didn't play for very long, maybe 25-30 minutes, although it might have been even less time than that. I got a pretty good vibe from their music. Far from being the most interesting band alive, they nonetheless sounded like a fun listen and probably will be worth checking out when I get around to it.

It didn't take long for Deerhunter to come on after Bleached were done but there was a tiny problem. You see the instruments were not yet ready to go and the band had to perform their own sound check (classy, right?). It took around 15 minutes for them to get started after initially arriving on stage. Lead singer/guitarist Bradford Cox apologized a few instances during this time, even going so far as to ensure the audience that this self warm-up was not actually a new song, which strangely my friend and I both thought of before he actually came out and said it. Trippy!

When the band finally got started all was forgiven. Although I was well aware of their shoegaze and noise flirtations from their studio albums, I wasn't prepared for just how loud it would get at times. Big mistake. Ear plugs would have been a worthy investment for the show but alas, I got to take in their high frequency guitar fuzz in all its natural glory several times throughout the show.

...This is only part one of two for this entry on the Deerhunter show. Since I've been working for entirely too long for this concert review already and have been lazy to get it done, I decided to at least post this as two parts so I'd have something for you all to read. Look for more details on part two very soon.