i gave in and made the trek to Williamstown MA to see Deerhoof a couple days ago. Williamstown is a town with a population of about 8,000. It’s in the northwest coner of Massachusetts, snuggled between upstate NY and Vermont. It’s quite a ways from anywhere. They played at the tiny, elite, private Williams College, in the temporary student union – a former chapel- Goodrich Hall. It wasn’t exactly crowded. Just me & maybe 100 kids that looked about 10-years-old. The high ceilings made for great sound, but it didn’t translate into the video i shot. i do like the vids though. The stage and the black and white reminded me of the Ed Sullivan-ish In Bloom video. (Nirvana.) No close-ups. I know i missed some great close-ups. I just wanted to keep the camera in one place so i could forget it and enjoy the show.
They were so good i swear i almost cried.
if this doesn’t get you right away, move into 1:40 or 2:30 minutes.
As a side note – i first heard of Deerhoof when i saw them play before the Akrons in NYC on New Year’s Eve. Cemented by Saturday’s show, they are officially my new favorite band. It’s great to have a new favorite band with a 10-year back catalog!
You know, it can really hurt but in that good way you know will be so worth it.
At night one of three at the Steve Allen Theater, there were times I thought I’d have to flee. This was the third(ish) time I saw Akron perform. I say (ish) because the first time I hardly remember due to reasons involving awful sound and intense heat. The second time I remember vividly, but it was a tribute show and they played only a few songs, none of which were their own.
Night one grew particularly intense when Miles taped a microphone to a metal folding chair and took drumsticks to it while Seth played some sort of flute and Dana… I don’t even know what he was doing. The combination pierced through my eardrums and picked at my skull until it reached my defenseless brain with its claws out. They did something similar on night two and it ripped my mind, tongue, eyes, everything… out and my body stood there with its innards watching beside it transfixed by sound.
I was nothing but nerves. All my insides exposed. I would have cried if forced to speak. And then they slowed, and softened. They sang about the sun or sadness, something soothing.
With my demons exorcised, they lulled me in with them to that space where I don’t have to think and I was overwhelmed by the feeling that somehow everything was going to be okay. They broke me down and built me right back up, over and again… no pain, no gain?
But what makes Akron so different from any other live musical experience, because they were/are/will always be, is the following which I will try my best to describe though I know it will only give a suggestion of what I really felt as words are only painfully inadequate symbols of ideas:
I had a moment watching Miles sing when it occurred to me that while nothing about our existence makes sense, the very truth of that allows us to make of this what we want. People, places, time, events are all orbiting around us waiting to be dove into. To be swam around in. Mixed together. Jumped back out of. There are layers we cannot see beneath this one and we can peel it off if we choose to.
These are notes for the brass quartet I found after the show. It was going to be the only description piece for the concert review because it pretty much ties the whole thing together.
Instead I decided to bore you all with about 500 words of what most of you will call hippie bullshit.
11:58 pm: Seth, Miles and Dana (the AKAK themselves) take the 400 sq ft stage along with the breaded tree men of Megafaun and a brass quartet (including a flute-playing midget) The stage is set for the entering of the New Year. There is a heavy smell of freshly smoked grass, but I am just blazing the excitement. A part of me does not really believe that I am where I am. My ponderings of the past year’s experiences are halted by the countdown. Fuck Times Square. Fuck Dick Clark. I cannot believe how many people really thought I would fly to NY for that clown act. I am here: to be capitulated; to be with my people; to share in a moment of beauty; to hear a sound that might remind of a purer time. I have always felt that Akron in some way has connected me back to the land, reminding me of that spirit I felt in a river in Texas, the clarity of a time out by the lake in Montana, or standing atop a mountain in Oregon surrounded by 200 year old pine tree. In this tiny venue on the 74th block of Leonard Street, there is a view of the world seen through the eyes of your own precious moments. I find myself amongst the believers who know the majesty of the musical spirit.
Akron/Family jump starts the festivus with Phenomenon. Miles—who has decided to wear his “Hey man, I want to party with you shirt” again—is trying to convince everyone in the place to yell at the top of their lungs. The song closes with a surprising layered shoegaze moment, leading into their recently-revised live version of Lake Song.
(Ebee and I both agree that the live version is great but might be too Latina. Why fix the original if it is not broke.) Nonetheless, you can obviously get a feel for the raw power.
I first heard Untitled I at a live Akron show at a wine cellar in Visilia. I was about 6 inches from Seth’s guitar. His fingers are little soldiers of God’s army. I had my eyes closed for nearly the whole show. Yes, that is how brightly they radiated. Just close your eyes.
(Amendment to the orignal post….I have been re-watching this video over and over; sheer exquisiteness. I mean how great is it at minute 3:30.)They have revamped this song since I last saw them. Adding some meat for the new album is my guess. Awesome.
Raise the Sparks makes me want to hug a tree and scalp the white man all in one motion.
This song I just decided to call Primordial Sound. Miles looks as though he is trying to force the darker side of his soul into the microphone. Neat, huh? (Mom don’t watch this)
The set closes with the original three side hugging each other, repeatedly singing “Last year was a hard year for such a long time / This year is going to be all ours.” Although in many ways this was not my truth I sang along with everyone. The harmony of a Akron + the crowd family is a sound no one should miss during a lifetime.
Tonight (as well as all other nights) Akron/Family broke through the lines of genre and dogmatic categorization, existing in a vast universe of purple mountains that ring of clarity and sharpness. There style is one of unbridled passion, laced with spontaneity and thickness. They are the reason everyone should be protestant when it comes to music; hear with your own ears. Akron is the broad highway.
As the night closes, I remembered of how their set began with the lyrics of Phenomenon stating /some might not think this is the right sound/; I more fully understand that this is not for everyone but it is for me and that is ok.
I wish anyone who just read this was there with us. John, Ebee, Naia, Laura, guy who only listens to live music and I held down the fort for you though. (Dan I can’t believe you left to caught the train.) We only live once and I would not trade the moments shared with you and them for anything. The forever binding spirit of AKAK.
10:30 pm: Enter San Fransisco based indie-experimental-hyper-rock band, Deerhoof. Enter the surprise act of the evening. Enter a small Asian woman, a man in light blue old school milk delivery man suit, a coked out college kid, and a long haired version of Stapler guy from Office Space (you had to hear him talk).
I bought their album “Friends Opportunity” about a year back and was wholly unimpressed. I found it kind of annoying to be frank, so I was not that jazzed about the performance. Next thing you know I can barely keep my hands steady from the energy being pelted at my corpus callosum. The crowd was being set on fire by the guitars of John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez ripping along side the heavy crescendos of Greg Saunier. I had heard their shows were a sight to behold from a friend who saw them at the LA Natural History Museum. I dont know why I doubt people. I feel as though I am failing to describe the essence of the show….but in a sentence, it was heavy yet hyper and my brain tripped over itself repeatedly in anticipation of the next riff from John. I wanted to jump, kick, scream and throw my camera into the wall. Instead I MTFU (thats for you Stone Junkie) and let the vibes run their course.
The video camera is right next to the drum (obviously), so sorry for the sound quality. I am asking for two minutes of your time today, just watch the first video from start to finish. FYI if you know the names to any of these songs I would greatly appreciate help.
The crowd was restless and my camera was being shifted in a wave of sweaty manliness. Listen to the guitar at 1:13 if nothing at all then heard me yelling.
For starters who can’t love a rock star who is willing to post this self-portiat on his myspace account.
Now down to business. I am listening to the album right now on my 5th trip through from start to finish. Originally I thought it was a 8.5, but the more I listen the more I realize how much of a beautiful production it really is. In my opinion, an album should not be judged by its individual songs but rather the sum which embodies its extremities . On a whole, the album might be the best I have heard in 2008. I cant wait to see Bradford Cox play with Deerhunter in 9 days. Sorry again mom I love you but my soul must take this journey.
The song “Scraping Past” is a mixture between the first time I smoked opium and what I imagine it would be like to orbit the universe beside Haley’s comet.
