Monday, August 3, 2009

Photo Review: Dan Deacon / Deerhunter / No Age Round Robin


Photos by Chrissy

Three of the biggest genre-leading projects in music today took Baltimore by storm Friday night. With a collaborative round robin style promised, anticipation and hype would have been glaring understatements.

Dan Deacon was in the back of Sonar, No Age took the floor on the side, and Deerhunter set up shop up on the main stage. When their collaborative set took off with all 3 bands playing simultaneously, PBR-induced waves of "Hell Yes" washed over the masses.

The euphoric noise hitting the crowd in a surround sound feel was the intro to Deerhunter's LP Cryptograms, and lead into them rocking the title track off their fantastic 2007 record. Bradford Cox and company sounded terrific all night, as tracks like "Nothing Ever Happened" swirled with faded pop bliss. These guys are easily one of the best live indie bands today.

Dan Deacon's last outing at Sonar was a bit of a debacle, but thankfully the crowd had no choice but to respect the synthed electronic genius with him being on a raised platform. Friday night was nothing but love, as the hometown crowd danced and surfed their way through his portions of the set. Familiar favorites were played, and he even took a stab at some Bromst material without the ensemble.

No Age sparked the rowdy type, with their noisey pop punk played nice and loud for the kids. While I lost a beer or two getting in the mix of things during their turns, certainly no complaints from my end. The evening rocked something for everyone, with never any moments of boredom. Despite a few glitches expected with the first night on a tour of this nature, each of the artist's efforts flowed seemlessly into the next one's. And at times, with the help of everyone.

This tour is sure to get its fair share of press, and I for one hope it helps to get the round robin style to become more of a trend. Forget the whole headlining hierarchy. This was just two dudes from L.A., a band from Atlanta, and someone who calls Baltimore their home, all playing music and loving it.

2 comments:

Chrissy said...

I have a giant bruise from photographing No Age! But it was worth it, I really only care that my camera is fine.

betty b said...

stumbled upon your blog, been catching up on past posts..

really enjoy your writing.. keep up the good work!