2010年 Nov 8日 Monday, 4:28
Wed 3 Nov – Deerhunter, High Places, Casino Versus Japan
Wow, that was defiantly an amazing experience. Drove a total of 16 hours going back and forth, add getting stranded at a reservation, and still was totally worth it.
Anyway, on to the actual event. It wasn't completely packed at all in the beginning, but it was decently filled up by the end. Got there confused and bewildered at what to do, as a bunch of hipster types crowded at what looked like the entrance, however where we stayed at was actually the entrance. We got first digs, and met a completely cool person (you know who you are) who we hung around with until it opened and stayed with us until the end of the concert. I got to see Lockett, Josh, and Moses leave the building for smokes, and Bradford was peaking out of the building. It was a small venue, packing into a strip mall, so I was a bit concerned, but it turned out pretty good for the venue. Anyway, I got in, and we looked at the merch table until we decided to get a good spot. A few people someone got in earlier, but we got the perfect spot, literally three feet from the stage.
High Places did a sound-test for a while, then Casino Versus Japan started. The dude actually hung around where we were standing and I thought he was just a fan. He apologized for not having a perfect visuals to accompany his music and thanked Deerhunter for the opportunity to preform. His performance was pretty good, not really a huge fan of IDM-ish things but it was a nice opener. The songs came off as droney and intimating rather than chilling for the most parts, but he added nice beats and piled on the suspense to make the songs really something to ponder. He ended after about 30 minutes, and the techs set up for High Places.
High Places ruled and I wish I knew a bit more of the songs, as they rocked to all hell. I've know about them for a little while now but only knew about two songs (On Giving Up and Stardust to Sentience). They preformed those two songs, saving Stardust for last, which really got me excited. Between then, they played songs on their latest album, High Places Vs. Mankind, which impressed me a hella lot. Twin guitar melodies mixed with the crazy-ass samples and drumbeats, mixed with some muffled yet very powerful vocals. The drum beats made me spastically move after I had been standing for about 2 hours. They ended after 45 minutes, and really impressed my sister.
Deerhunter took a while to get on stage, as their techs sampled every instrument. The standing was getting painful after that amount of time, and the crowd was pushing in closer and closer. Finally they came out and the place exploded. I was three feet away from Bradford Cox, which honestly blew my mind. They had the exact same stage presence as I have seen in concerts of theirs, but there was still something awesome about that. Anyway, here's the set-list for them.
Desire Lines
Hazel St.
Don't Cry
Revival
Never Stops
Little Kids
Memory Boy
Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Fountain Stairs
Nothing Ever Happened
Helicopter
He Would Have Laughed
Encore:
Cover Me (Slowly)
Agoraphobia
Fluorescent Grey
Yep, that pretty much was an awesome set-list. I mean, some of my favorite Deerhunter songs are missing and I've heard about the same set-list in the NPR concert, but still all those songs rule and they made them about a million times better live. Desire Lines, Don't Cry, Nothing Ever Happened, He Would Have Laughed, AND Fluorescent Grey were somewhat more extended, or at least it seemed so. Rainwater had it's fancy and rhythmic other version. From Never Stops onwards, I thrashed around to every song, screaming my lungs out in the process. They added a nice layer of distortion to every song (save maybe Little Kids and Helicopter) making every song rock the fuck out as much as they could. I mean, I never knew Hazel St. could be that aggressive. Nothing Ever Happened was the highlight, and Fluorescent Grey came in close. Nothing for me knowing every word and basking in the feedback and the seemingly repeating rhythm section. Fluroscent Grey for how much they changed it and how Bradford made it his. About the final section of the song, Bradford knelt in and pointed at me and a girl in front of me to cover our ears. I didn't know what he meant at first, as the girl literally had her head buried in the speaker. So we actually interrupted the song for about 30 seconds, which was crazy. After that, he literally went ballistic with feedback in the speakers, so much so that covering my ears didn't help much at all. My ears literally were fucked, and my body felt like I just took heroin or something. I was literally laughing after it was all done, both feeling like a wreck and a million bucks. I even screamed "Lockett is Batman!" but they obviously couldn't hear with all the clapping. So yeah, amazing show.