2007 in review: Dan Deacon
December 21, 2007
The best concert I went to in 2007 was twenty minutes long.
I had gone to see Dan Deacon at Avalon, where he started off a concert with Simian Mobile Disco and Girl Talk. As usual, I misjudged exactly how stupidly early Avalon starts its concerts, and I managed to miss him entirely. But a friend of mine texted me to say that Deacon was doing a show at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain, and so I went home, got my car, and drove out to catch his show. It started at 12:40 pm and ended, thanks to Boston’s draconian licensing laws, at exactly 1 am.
The military spends a lot of energy trying to create sonic weapons that make you want to throw up, run away, or otherwise feel terrible. But no one is systematically trying to find sounds that make you feel really, really amazing. Fortunately, we do have accidental empiricists like Dan Deacon. Something about his music just goes straight to your pleasure centres, makes you happy, and makes you want to dance. It was remarkable – within a few seconds of his starting to play, we were all happily bouncing along. Whatever acoustic anti-weapon he’s discovered, however, doesn’t really seem to be captured in his recorded music. If he plays near you, go see him live, even if you don’t think you like electronic music.
MP3: Dan Deacon – The Crystal Cat
Geek out: An interactive guide to Dan Deacon’s gear.
zed equals zee 
[…] guitar; synthetic/organic; faceless/charismatic artists’). But this was before artists like Dan Deacon and Girl Talk, and the many other crossovers between indie and […]
[…] I think that Sunday’s highlight was Cut Copy, despite everything. They were delayed at the airport and ended up doing an abbreviated set that conflicted with the headliners, Spoon. While the real diehards waited it out through Mike Reed’s ‘psychedelic doo-wop stylings,’ the rest of us (like me and my friend Jon) headed over to catch the Spoon set, keeping one ear out for the sounds of joyful electropop from the Balance Stage. We headed over to immerse ourselves in the mass of dancing indie fans and caught the last couple of songs – it was a great close-out to the fest. And short but intense wins again. […]