No Age, Dan Deacon, and Deerhunter at Sonar
Kristin Klein
Deerhunter
No Age, Dan Deacon, and Deerhunter gathered at Sonar on Friday for a no-headliner triple bill. The show was the first of a dream-team tour—dubbed “No Deachunter” by its participants—in which the three bands perform a “round robin” of songs, trading the spotlight after only one or two tunes each. With fewer than 10 dates and no new releases to promote (the most recent was Deacon’s March album, Bromst), the outing seemed like some sort of slapped-together, drunken-fantasy super-tour. And yet, the shared format gave ample focus to each performer—who could prioritize the bands, after all?—while showcasing their collaborative playfulness.
The three groups formed a cult-like semi-circle throughout Sonar’s main room. Deerhunter, the largest of the night, took mainstage honors, while No Age and Deacon set up on smaller stages about the room. The show began with instrumental rumblings from all three performers, leading into a collaboration on Deerhunter’s “Cryptograms” (off the similarly titled 2007 album). This opening effort became somewhat confusing as it wore on, but it was certainly a sight to behold.
No Age stuck mostly to Nouns tracks, while intense moshing commenced in front of the stage. Deacon—complete with audience-participation games and glowing green skull—performed his electro-rock for an eager local fan base. And Deerhunter, though less rowdy, still hypnotized the audience with its repertoire of mellow anthems. The latter’s gentle melodies were occasionally threatened by Sonar’s not-so-stellar sound system, but the band continued on, sometimes aided by No Age’s raging instrumentals and backing vocals.
The first gig of this collaborative tour showed its age—experimentations were nowhere near record-worthy, but still managed to be fun. The format of the musical round robin, meanwhile, could be a challenge to an uninitiated audience member; throngs of eager listeners followed the music as it moved about the room, creating a veritable stampede with the changing of acts. The sound quality may not have been top-notch, and the material may not have been new, but the true draw of this tour is witnessing the interaction between, say, Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox and No Age’s Dean Spunt, rather than getting in on high-quality bootleg recordings.
