Deerhunter

It’s never a good sign when the first thing Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox says to the audience is “I’ve got some bad news to tell you.” I immediately became worried that the show was in jeopardy, but it just turned out that guitarist Whitney Petty was back at the hotel with the flu, and unfortunately wouldn’t be making the gig. So, it would be up to Bradford and Lockett Pundt to manage the guitar assault for the evening, a task which they took to admirably once the sound issues were worked out. It’s also never a good sign when Bradford has to yell “This monitor is fucked” during opening track “Cryptograms.” The song sounded amazing from the crowd, incidentally, with no audible buzzing in the vocals that Bradford would allude to. So, with encouragement from the audience, the band soldiered on into “Never Stops,” one of my favorite tracks from Deerhunter’s incredible new record Microcastle. But Bradford had enough of the monitor issue, stopping the song outright just a minute or two in, and demanding that the issue get resolved before the band continued, more for the crowds benefit than the bands, with Bradford exclaiming that he didn’t want us to have to listen to a lousy show and have a bad trip. So, after the tech fixed the issue, Bradford joked “Take it from the chorus…Just kidding. We’re starting the song again,” and with that, finally, the show took off.

“Never Stops” soared, being led by the bouncy bass line of Josh Fauver, and the two guitar attack that brought the song to a cacophonous finish. “Dr. Glass,” off the Fluorescent Grey E.P. was next, and it was clear that the band were locked in at this point, or at least locked in after drummer Moses Archuleta returned from his mid-set between-song bathroom break. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest of starts for Deerhunter, but the sublime sound of their music more than made up for any glitches, be they technical or, ahem, physical.

Deerhunter

The band has really fleshed out the live sound of their older tracks, adding Sonic Youth-style layers of noise on to tracks like “Hazel St.” and “Like New,” that really turned them into massive, sonorous live songs. The Triple Rock has always been my favorite sounding room in the city, and after the opening fiasco, the sound was fantastic for the duration of the show. And it was clear that after the hi-jinks of past Deerhunter performances, the band was much more into their music now than any sort of on-stage theater, and the set was tightly focused, forceful, and as stirring as any of their shows were in the past. And the strength and vision of their new record is a big reason for that, as well, with the new songs building and crashing over the audience in exquisite waves of sound. The last two or three minutes of “Nothing Ever Happens,” was absolutely sublime (not to mean that the first part of the song was shit, or anything), and was really where the show caught fire.

The band built on that momentum with a stunning guitar heavy version of “Octet,” that built up gradually, until the song completely filled the room and had everyone around me at least smiling if they weren’t moving something. The band really were able to lose themselves completely during the number, with all the members locked into the groove and collectively lost in their sound. “Microcastle” slowed things down a bit, until its rousing finish sparked the show back to life again, and an excellent version of “Vox Celeste” proved to be the nights only offering from Weird Era Cont, the outstanding bonus album released with Microcastle. “Calvary Scars,” found the band stretching the song out a bit and experimenting musically, with Bradford turning knobs extensively in search of that perfect sound, and the other members turning their backs on the audience as they focused on the sound coming out of their amps. It was fantastic, and eased the band off the stage before the encore.

Deerhunter

Remnants of the song were still being looped repeatedly as Bradford came back on stage, much to his annoyance as he tried to thank the audience for coming out on a cold Monday night. After repeated attempts to silence the loop by hitting on a cymbal, Bradford joked, after Moses was able to silence the noise, “See how professional this band is.” “Agoraphobia,” was the first encore, and while sounding incredible, it was also somewhat sleepy, and that continued into set closer “Twilight At Carbon Lake,” which Bradford introduced fittingly as “a lullaby for baby roaches.” So the encore proved to be somewhat languid, until the end of “Twilight,” which brought discord and feedback galore, again echoing Sonic Youth, and ended the set on a high note.

It’s never a good thing when a band has to work through technical issues that plague their sound, but Deerhunter showed great fortitude and dedication in not only working though the issues at the start of the set, but turning in a stellar show once the sound was sorted out. They are touring for a fantastic record, and last night they put on a show worthy of the quality of their entire catalog, and, despite perhaps lacking the theatrics of past shows, the concert was musically sound and experimental in its own right, and certainly made braving the cold on a Monday night worthwhile.

Deerhunter

[review by Erik Thompson, photos by Jeremy Nelson]

Deerhunter Set List:
Cryptograms
Never Stops
Dr. Glass
Hazel St.
Like New
Little Kids
Nothing Ever Happened
Octet
Microcastle
Vox Celeste
Saved By Old Times
Calvary Scars
Encore:
Agoraphobia
Twilight At Carbon Lake

Times New Viking

I need to make special mention of Chicago’s Disappears, who opened the night with a strong set of guitar heavy minimalist rock that was reminiscent of Velvet Underground and Television, and with our show being their last on the tour with Deerhunter, we were lucky to have them kick off the night. Times New Viking, from Columbus, Ohio, were up next, and while making that sort of racket with their nominal stage set was admirable, their songs suffered from sounding too similar and not really having any real direction, with just simple keyboards and guitar to drive the song along with the drums. Their set was met with approval by most of the crowd, but not necessarily with me, especially when compared to the superb sounds of Deerhunter.

Deerhunter: Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Times New Viking: Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Disappears: Official | MySpace