Deerhoof @ Factory Theatre,Sydney (3/4/2007)

Thu 5th Apr, 2007 in Gig Reviews

There’s a big sign on the side of the building, you can’t miss the
Factory Theatre – however dark and mysterious the surroundings are. Tonight we drink to Deerhoof. The audience mingled around the bar, and gathered most popularly on the interesting carpet.

First for the night was Catcall. A new Hip-hop project by vocalist
Catherine Kelleher (part of the young Sydney punk band, Kiosk).
Fuelled by her DJ’s heavy beats, handclaps and echo – œn’ bounce,
Sleater Brockman set the pace. Kelleher walked on stage almost
muttering into the microphone that she was going to sing some
songs. I have to say the first three were a challenge, it seemed
that Kelleher had transferred all the attitude and style from one
band to another, except perhaps for her sneakers. The vocals were
really dissonant (almost certainly intentional) and the music was
obnoxious. But by the fourth song, she seemed as if she suddenly
fit the part, she was comfortable. The songs here on out were
playful and clever, with repetition working in her favor. Tinged
with her punk rock attitude, Kelleher’s music was like Macromantics
or M.I.A. Her final song was the most accomplished, and by the
looks of things, the most practiced. Muttering – œthank you’ into the
microphone, she hurried off the stage as if she couldn’t wait to
get out of there.

After a relatively short sound check, enter My Disco. And I wasn’t
ready for it. People began to swarm at the foot of the stage, by
this time stretching their legs and pulling away from the seat they
had been in for an hour or so. From the first chords, it was made
clear that My Disco’s interest in music lies with timing, beat and
playing around with silent space. Their music is repetitious and
trance-like, with little vocals and a big emphasis on the bass
groove. Once this is established it continued, each song was quite
similar, but why not? The crowd seemed to love it. The band
experimented with noise and minimalist contours. The guitarist
hugged his instrument as close to his chest as possible, the
drummer filled as much space possible and the bassist didn’t look a
day over fifteen.

After their set, there was much action on the stage.* Satomi
Matsuzaki* (singer) and John Dieterich (guitarist) were first on –
she was knee-high to a grasshopper, in baggy pants and suspenders.
Soundcheck this, soundcheck that and the crowd hummed with
anticipation. Greg Saunier walked on and it all began (drummer and
founder)... Deerhoof… They opened with a gradual wall of noise and
then crept into +81 without anyone noticing.

Each of their songs were innovative, complex and exciting. The crowd tried to sway with them but the beat was everywhere, it
seemed unless you knew the songs like the back of your hand you
couldn’t capture it for more than a minute. The Perfect Me had a
false start, when Matsuzaki stopped the other two and admitted, – œwrong song’ – and then continued a little out, a little messy –
but only this once.

After almost every song, Saunier would get up from his drummer’s
chair and head to Matsuzaki’s microphone. He would have to bend to
almost half his height to speak into it, each time sounding a
little more puffed than before. Thanking the support bands,
thanking the audience, it was obvious the Deerhoof clan were happy
to be there.

Matsuzaki’s hand gestures were enough to entertain anyone for the
whole show. A band that sounds like no other, they finished with a
medley encore – the best part was Kidz are so Small, Matsuzaki
wailed, “If I were a man and you were dog, I’d throw a stick for
you”.

I really wished they played Matchbook Seeks Maniac, because that
song live would have been amazing, otherwise it was brilliant.