REVIEW: Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors @ Paradise Rock Club 9/13
By Christopher Bunting
Photos by Monica Sucic
With a slightly awkward mid-lyric hello, David Longstreth emerged to a packed Paradise Rock Club and dove into the Dirty Projectors’ catalogue. Kicking off with “What Is The Time” highlighted the group’s characteristic rhythmic and harmonic richness, between drummer Mike Daniel Johnson moving busily between drum set and drum machine sounds behind Nat Baldwin’s fat, compelling bass lines. Alongside vocalists/multi-instrumentalists Kristin Slipp, Felicia Douglass, and Maia Friedman, the group brought Longstreth’s visionary songwriting to life. Each vocalist, including Longstreth himself had chances to show their prowess in the spotlight as well on backing vocals, each bringing their own personality and energy to the stage. At one point, Longstreth sank to his knees for the unexpected deep cut “Beautiful Mother.” The three other singers seamlessly mirrored his highly technical guitar work in a breathtaking example of vocal hocketing.
The short set struck a nice balance between fan-favorite classics and new material, although it struck me that Longstreth chose to change guitars with each song, robbing the set of any fluid continuity. Overall, the group stayed largely true to the original recordings, doing little to mix things up in concert, with one exception. Their rendition of “Right Now” opened the chorus up, slowing almost to a halt before springing back to the starting tempo. While I would have liked to see more such creative variations in the live experience, it was exhilarating to hear familiar nuances recreated in real time. Simultaneously, a few missed notes and false starts humanized the musicians and what they created on stage. They also performed three unreleased tunes. Of them, the first two struck me as more generic than usual, while the third featured heavy sampling and break beats more in line with band’s two last albums. Closing out with a rollicking “Impregnable Question,” Dirty Projectors left me hankering for more as Deerhunter began their intensive stage set up.
Deerhunter’s love of 60s-era psychedelia was immediately made clear by their colorful suits and massive sunglasses. Frontman Bradford Cox appeared wearing several layers including a green suit and bright yellow shirt. Their meticulous stage setup of amps reflected much of the performance, which involved using guitars and effects pedals to create dense atmospheric soundscapes. While some of their songs retained the meandering sonics throughout, much of the later set consisted of carefully crafted noise loops giving way to much more accessible synth pop. Alongside Cox’s guitar, these contrasting acoustic environments relied heavily on keyboardist Javier Morales, who was equally comfortable with sparse, spacy tones as with pitch bending synth sounds.
Although the band’s distinctive sound was audible throughout the set, several elements kept me enthralled as a skeptical first time listener. Firstly, Cox’s stage presence was as striking as his wardrobe. He threw coats and scarfs off and on dramatically throughout the show, often dressing up his band mates in the process. He was clearly in his element as he synchronized his motion, playing, and singing with the others in the group, and interacted with the crowd continuously. He even gave a shout out to a fan who had followed Deerhunter on almost every stop of the tour, letting him pick the final song: “Twilight at Carbon Lake.” Second, drummer Moses Archuleta infused each song with a fiercely beating heart. Even in the thickest of Cox’s pedal-slathered guitar intros, Archuleta could build the rhythmic energy astoundingly high before swooping into a pop or metal groove.
Finally, towards the middle of the set, a faithful stagehand appeared with an amplified violin and added another level of aural complexity to the mix. Beyond impressive technical skill that allowed both somber, classical lines and avant garde noise-making, the violinist had incredible rapport with Cox. When Cox was not sitting in his lap for a slow melodic bit, he was rocking out alongside the violinist, leaning out into the crowd in an improvisational flurry. By the final song, I was fully swept up in the universe of sound that Deerhunter created, and I’m glad I was able to immerse myself in it.
