Oh, the triumphant disaster that was the Dan Deacon show at
the Mohawk. For those of you who are
unfamiliar with Dan Deacon, he is a Baltimore
based performance artists/composer who relies on a mixture of current and outmoded
technologies to create an electronic hodgepodge of infectious electro. A
hodgepodge that reminds you of Carl Stalling's cartoon compositions, Joe Meek's
out of this world production techniques, DEVO's knack for writing killer hooks
while having a political slant and their tongues firmly entrenched in their
cheeks and that goofy neighbor of yours that spends all his time making curious
creations in his parents' basement that you've been dying to lay your ears and
eyes on either for the sheer comedy or potential brilliance of it.
Dan Deacon's look goes hand in hand with his music. He is
now somewhat overweight, wears oversized glasses, is balding and sports
t-shirts with cartoon characters or allover animal prints you might have gotten
from a zoo circa 1988.
When you go to see Dan Deacon, you're not going for the
music as much as you are the experience. He truly turns every show into an
event. For this show, as per usual, Dan set up his card table of synths,
keyboards, oscillators, pedals, and Ipods in the midst of the crowd. Thereby
forcing the crowd to gather around him and radiate outwards. He has a green
flashing skull on a pole that he switches on and off throughout the show which
serves as a marker for those who can't quite get a fix on his position since he
is at crowd level. He adorns his table with colored lights bulbs controlled by
various switches to add ambiance, which he triggers with whatever part of his
body is currently free. He also added a new lighted pet since the last show
that appeared to be some kind plastic cat head. Adorable.
The show started with massive technical difficulties. Dan
was obviously frustrated but had the crowd laughing along with every glitch. He
decided to start the show with the usual last song of his set, "Wham
City," since it would allow his
friend the maximum amount of time to run to Dan's hotel across the street and
grab some backup equipment. He handed
out lyric sheets to the first few rows of the crowd who were all too eager to
participate and launched into the 12-minute opus about his art collective home
in Baltimore. The plan worked to
fruition. His friend returned just in time for the end of the song. Sadly, the
glitches did not end there. Dan would start a song and the sound would cut out
a few moments into the song. Having the kind of setup he has, it seems problems
could arise from the equipment itself to sound men not knowing how to deal with
him to simple human error on his part or amped up kids bumping into his table
and unwittingly jarring a connection.
After trying a few more songs with the same result, and several
expletives, he called for a ten-minute recess to regroup.
The recess was successful. Although he had lost some of the
crowd, he was now ready to unleash his brand of zany electro experimentation
onto the anxious Austinites who remained. The crowd rallied and eagerly bounced
liked hyperactive electrons around the Dan Deacon nucleus as he played hits
like "Crystal Cat" and "Okie Dokie." The crowd rallied even further when he
launched into his anti-condominium tirade and about how their impending
invasion will inevitably have a monumentally detrimental effect on the Austin
music scene.
The evening culminated with Dan drawing comparisons between
Mohawk's multi-tiered structure and the Battle of Helms Deep from "Lord Of The
Rings." Those of the audience on the ground were now "Orcs" and those of us on
one of the balconies were "Elves." He instructed the Elves to shoot their
imaginary arrows at the Orcs as they formed a gauntlet and made their way up
the staircases. Dan's goal was to have
everyone leave the bottom level and watch from above "like in that Lenny
Kravitz" video. Had it not been for a few too cool for school kids, he would
have done it.
Having some time left he ended the show with another version
of "Wham City"
so he could do it justice. He apologized
profusely throughout the show for all the technical difficulties but I can't
imagine anyone could have cared less. He has such a magnetic personality that
he could have nothing but technical difficulties and still pull off a
successful show.
Dan Deacon will be back in Austin
in January with the addition of two drummers and a promise for things to go
smoothly.
|
Reviews 
(0 vote)
