Visually you can get a good hint of live Deerhoof by checking out photos of the tiny frenetic singer
and the overly motivated drummer:
In the midst of the normal routine of sort-of-cool if you squint shows at Celebrate Brooklyn tonight's show was an authentic, can't stop yourself from jumping up and down, sort of gig.
Deerhoof rocked the house and fans responded. Two indicators:
1) The aisles of the pavillion were packed with standing people, violating the usual decorum that keeps standing people out on the lawn. Fans couldn't help themselves.
2) The concession stand was dead. "Yeah, this is kind of a first." a casher said. " Usually during any set, there's a steady rotation of traffic for beer and food."
Deerhoof really has something for everyone. The foundation is Gang of Four guitars and Primus eggheadtechnical bass. The drummer is super spaz, flailing like a thresher trying to beat sundown.
Visually, it's a backdrop of three beanpole looking Berklee School of Music guys with bad posture, holding forth like a slacker Mt Rushmore behind a four-foot-something peppy girl who sings the entire set in Japanese.
Nerd-dom was in full effect too. The first guitarist announced that many of the songs are unreleased but that we could read the sheet music for them. Huzzah? Fighting for the mic between songs, the second guitarist stepped forth and let us know that, not only is the sheet music available for free at the back of the hill ("I know that sounds exciting but try not to rush the table "), but that we are encouraged to take it, grab our own instruments, and , before the album comes out, send Deerhoof our own recording of us doing their still unreleased song, to be somehow added to their effort.

Brooklyn should hire you to do PR. I can smell & hear the atmosphere & so want to be in a crowd like that under the trees in a starry nite!!
Posted by: lynsieffert | July 21, 2008 at 04:32 PM