So get there without incident for Future Islands, who take a while to figure out. Fat geezer on bass, skinny lad on samples and keys and it takes me a good few minutes to decide that the chubber singing ISN'T Jack Black. He very nearly could be...but he isn't. He's throwing himself about the stage like a loon though and despite his fat-guy-with-a-massive-sweat-on appearence he's intelligent and charasmatic enough between songs to make me like him. I think i'll spend the morning checking them out on myspace. "This is what I think it feels like to be in love" he says about the last song and its full of super cheerful keyboard lines bordering on cheesy happy hardcore yet there's still plenty of charm in there despite him flicking his sweat into the crowd ...who actually seem to be lapping it up.
Dan Deacon is a bit of a weird one. Solo artist, I keep hearing the word electro used describing him. Isn't electro like funkmaster farley..I don't know...anyhow his psychedelic synth based pop music is really great if completely nuts. Last album Bromst is a composite of a zillion ideas crammed into insanely catchy if sometimes irritating tunes. Usually he forgoes the stage and prefers to set up his table of gadgets, synths and pedals right in the 'mosh pit' but tonight he's with his ensemble.
Ambling onto stage is a fat guy who strolls up and tells three jokes I can only remember the last "what's beethovens favourite fruit?" Ba-na-na-naaaa..yeah ok the second joke was funnier but I forget that now. He asks if anyone else has a joke and some guy actually does the "2 guys walk into a bar...you'd a thought one of them would have seen it" joke. Groans and moans indicate that stand up is over for now.
Fat guy strolls to the back of the stage and takes his place with the ensemble. We have four guys stood around a table that's layered in keyboards, three drummers (one very hot girl drummer), two guitarists, a bass player and two guys on xylophones, they coulda been glockenspiels..in fact the probably were..and of course Dan Deacon who despite the trendy and hipness of his music is easily in his forties, quite fat (plenty of meat about tonight!) ginger, bearded and has huge timmy mallet style specs on. "Thank you stand up comedy of america" he says.
"Raise a hand in the air" comes the instruction from the stage and everyone in the sparsely filled room does so. "Join hands with someone, look them in the eye and say I WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN..." he begins and everyone repeats him..on and on he goes testifying about lamented love and loss and declaring passion and freedom for all....for me obviously it's slightly awkward as I'm on my own and don't have any friends. There's two guys holding hands in front of me...I don't think they'll want me to join and a couple next to me again...they don't welcome me in...they look a bit weird plus I start to spot a few other members of the awkward scene standing alone..amen brothers and sisters. On and on he goes screaming and people are screaming back or rather screaming at their partners..finally they launch into the opening number 'paddling ghost' and it's fucking awesome.
Deacons music is the product of an obviously warped mind layering on sample over sample using massive pitch effects on his voice so he's singing like a demented chipmonk..it's often hilarious, often harrowing. Tonight everything seems to be played live by the band, who absolutely nail what I'd think was unnailable, it's incredible. He's got a stand next to him atop of which is a glowing skull. There's various lights sort of similar to the vertical lights seen in animal collectives live sets. But he's also got a few normal lights on stands and he's using some mixer to switch between them. The song lurches between mental percussion parts to keyboards melody to xylophone and back again and he's triggering the lights to match and it's like we're following the action around the stage...the drummers..the keyboards...the percussion the guitarists..all lit up individually.
He seems to be having some trouble with his vocal mix so instead opts to light up the day glow skull, "Yeah well there isn't many lyrics in that song anyway" he declares. Then he jumps from the stage "Lets form a wide circle" and we do. Backs pressed against the walls we're stood in a circle around Deacon..did I mention that he and all the band are wearing white jump suits..well they are! The second song (yep only on second song) he dances around in the middle, third song he gets two people in the middle..arms spread like birds to dance with each other in the ultimate dance off. He divides the circle into two and were each routing for our side, the dancers tag others who replace them and dance off against each other..some guy trues some pretty cute moves but his ambition falters and he ends up on his ass...me I'm trying to get as far behind a big bloke as I can. I don't do the dancing.
Next up Deacon identifies the best dancer in the room and he dances alone in the centre while we copy him around the circle..taking a step closer when instructed..the song this time is the brilliant "Woof Woof" an insane keyboard portamento line that just seems to keep on building and building...closer and closer we get until everyone is stood in the middle of the room bouncing up and down...it's nowhere near the stage where the band are playing. I'm thinking this venue is barely a third full and yet over 95% (overly accurate there) of the crowd are in a mosh pit (not me fact fans two reasons... full pint and specs..always careful me!)
Next act or next song I should say as the band are playing during all this. Fat stand up comedian of America dances in the middle and we all copy his moves and then on instruction "RUSH HIIIMM!!" and again a massive mosh pit..well a pogo pit starts up. It's not like you're gonna get hurt there's no bullet belts or doc martins in here. Worst that'll happen is that someone might chaff your cheek with their polyester cardigan.
Then we're all instructed to move to one side of the room. Two people stand opposite each other and join hands above their heads, two people run through them and then stand next to them arms aloft and joined in the air. We're making a human corridor. "So you run through and join the end of the line...we're going out the venue...out the fire escape...into the street..round the tree and then back through the fire escape and back into the venue...make no mistake at some point in this next song the band will be the only people in the room". And we do it! screaming our little heads off as we run through a corridor of arms and legs. I end up holding hands with some geezer who's also aware that he's holding hands with some geezer we don't know each other but we handle it! While we're stood outside watching people running under our arms I can still hear the band slightly in the venue and then we're off again running and screaming through a corridor of converse, cardigans and skinny jeans. We almost make it back to the venue but someone decides enough's enough and everyone piles back into the venue. On queue as the last person enters the room the band ratchets up the noise and song shifts and changes wonderfully.
So you might have realised that instead of a review this has turned into a document of what happened..I can barely remember the music..maybe that was the point. I came away more excited than I've been in a long time. Words like 'spectacle' and 'event' flying around the cerebellum. Had to call my mate to tell him all about it. I dunno if everyone in the room was expecting this kind of show from Dan Deacon, I'd heard he was great live but wasn't expecting the charisma and originality (and ambition!) that was displayed. This was a fantastic show, and yeah I can't remember the set list or much about the band but Deacon was so enthralling to watch and listen to I urge you to check him out.
Oh yeah and there was a rambling anecdote about a sick dog but I'm having that for myself!!
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