So tonight I saw Deerhoof at first ave. Pretty awesome to say the least. What really impressed me however, was one of the opening bands that performed. AU was really frickin awesome.
These two guys come up on stage, one of them has long straggly kinda hair, and they both look pretty down to earth. They plop themselves down at the respective keyboard and drumset. The first song is interesting, the synth is set up to sound like a genuine grand piano. The music is okay. As the first song fades out, there is a smattering of applause. The second song begins slowly, but builds up layer upon layer, not in an overpowering way though. The drums are amazing, and the remainder of their set builds up to one epic finale- a song called “death.” This song integrates so many moods and emotions that it’s pretty hard to describe. The calm beginning is overpowered by a neverending, but amazing drum solo, which ends with both guys standing up and pounding on their instruments with seemingly all the energy left in their bodies. A final thud of the drums, and we all begin to applaud. False alarm. The song has a few trick endings, and seems to end on a more monumental scale each time. The guys clearly have fun, they integrate awesome bells, and the drum solo seemed to even impress the keyboardist. He tried to butt in with his synth a few times, before shaking his head ruefully as another cymbal crash interrupted him. I decided that these guys are going to play at my wedding.
Deerhoof was awesome too of course. I love singer Satomi Matsuzaki’s adorable hand gestures as she sings,
and the music got everyone (even utterly sleep deprived me) to get at least their feet tapping.
One of my favorite parts of their set was a guy directly in front of the stage. For almost the entire show, he clasped his hands above his head and jumped around enthusiastically. During more mellow songs he would revert to clapping his hands really loudly. By the end of the show he was frantically shimmying and jumping and doing all sorts of crazy stuff, but again, the hands remained clasped. It was pretty strange looking, and a few of us imitated his weird behavior.
Anyways, I’d highly recommend AU, and the third band that played- Experimental Dental School. They are a duo, the drummer is this really awesome asian chick, and high fives with the audience are a part of their family tradition.
Other cool all ages shows coming up at first ave: (links to tickets and info)
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