I was first introduced to the tempered J-Pop melodies of Deerhoof while filming at OFF Festival 2011 in beautiful Katowice Poland. I had never heard of Deerhoof until that time and even then the only discerning factor I constantly remember of that experience was the bands bassist reminds me of a young Yoko Ono and the drummer looks like TV’s Dexter Morgan behind a drum kit looking quite psychotic in his own right, though I assure you he is not in real life.

When the opportunity presented itself to film Deerhoof again I wasn’t sure if I wanted to in all honesty, the band’s music didn’t exactly “evoke excitement” so I was in one of those questionable situations, do I give Deerhoof a second chance?

Well obviously the answer is yes and was I surprisingly pleased for showing a little faith because Deerhoof’s performance was quite “excitement evoking” this time around.

Hitting the makeshift Gunner’s Barrack’s Keystone stage about 8:15 there was a sizable crowd for a Monday Night performance, though it was summer and this is in celebration of Sydney Festival 2012, regardless of day, time or venue the Sydney audience was in the mood for something unique and that’s exactly what they received, courtesy of Deerhoof. From the get-go Deerhoof made it clear they were here to stamp their name to the “impressive list” of performers to this month long celebration of our incredible city.

While performing live Deerhoof are like 4 musicians on completely different planets, each doing their own crazy thing though to my dismay, somehow it all comes together with exceptional ease, even while typing this now I am still baffled how they keep such erratic behavior in perfect sync… though I assure you, they do.

The performance was marred with endless technical difficulties for over half the performance and whomever was the sound operator should start considering a new career… and then shoot themself, I would like to put it down to first night jitters though in all honesty it was unacceptable.

Additionally my job was made next to impossible from a lack of barrier at the Keystone venue, the band was obviously filming this performance as there was 6 camera operators standing in the most accessible filming areas, let’s just say the media that turned up were far from impressed by the organisation.

Through all the technical issues the band performed admirably, each member gave their all and the Sydney crowd certainly showed their respect. Personally, Deerhoof might not be my “preferred cup of musical tea” though don’t let that detract you from their performance because it was quite impressive, certainly much improved from OFF Festival 6 months earlier.

So after 90mins of utter randomness Sydney’s Deerhoof experience had come to an end with a rousing applause from an appreciative crowd who asked for something special of Deerhoof and received exactly that!


©2012 Shane Fenton.
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