I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 29, 2023] Deafheaven

I saw Deafheaven last year and found the show exhilarating and cathartic.  They played a lot of new music which is far less screamy and far more pretty (an unexpected thing from Deafheaven).

When they came back earlier this year (again at Union Transfer), I didn’t go (mostly because I had another commitment).  I wondered why they were playing TLA.  I think of it as a much smaller venue than Union Transfer, but the capacity limit is only 200 fewer people.  But I guess if they were in town just seven months ago, maybe they needed a different venue.

But for a full scale play of Sunbather?  The album that everyone thinks is amazing?  Heck yeah I was going to be there.  And I got right up front (but right behind a super tall dude).

The band came out–it was the same guys as last time.  But there was no backdrop–nothing fancy.  Just a low table for George Clarke to climb on and some pretty cool lighting rigs.

And after the cheering died down, they launched into “Dream House.”  And it was amazing.  The wall of sound was there, Clarke’s screamed vocals were there.  But you could FEEL the music.  Fascinatingly, it wasn’t all that loud.  Or, conversely, my earplugs were working exactly as they were supposed to.

I was in front of guitarist Shiv Mehra and bassist Chris Johnson–both of whom impressed me so much last time.  And I had a pretty clear view of the drumming machine that is Daniel Tracy.  It was amazing watching him play these super-fast machine gun snare drums like he was barely doing anything.

The only person I couldn’t really see was Kerry McCoy who was at the far side of the stage.

I was really impressed with the band last time and was even more so this time, since I actually knew this record pretty well.  They switched gears seamlessly and soon they were playing the quiet moments of Dream House, before ramping it back up again..

They also left the stage a lot.  Everyone but the two guitarists left the stage so that the two of them could play the pretty “Irresistible.”  Then they came back out for “Sunbather.”  And ripped through the song with ease,  I t was mesmerizing watching Clarke prowl the stage. He was wearing a button down short sleeve shirt and sort of dress pants.  But he also had elbow-length PVC gloves on.  You could see the sweat dripping off of them. He climbed up onto the platform and screamed.  Then he climbed down and screamed some more.  he even jumped down to the barrier and sang right in the fans’ faces.  I was a little surprised he never came over by us, but he did acknowledge us a bunch.

The band left and a taped recording of “Please Remember” began.  It’s like 3 minutes of droning noise and then both guitarists came out to play the pretty melody that ends the song.

Everyone was back in full for Vertigo and then they all left again for the nearly five minutes of “Windows” which was all played on tape.  It was kind of surreal to be standing, looking at a stage with no one on it–a recording of noises and dialogue playing over the speakers with throbbing lights pulsing on stage.  There was literally nothing to see, but it still felt pretty neat.  I hope the band got to rest a little during these pauses, but Clarke always looked dripping wet.

They returned once more for “The Pecan Tree.”  Like the other songs, it was intense and overwhelming.

And that was that. Yep, only 6 songs, but the record is about an hour long.

They left the stage and the Clarke came back and asked if we had time for one more.  he also announced that Kissinger was dead–so there’s a nice memory for the show.   He was kind of funny and giddy and he waited for the song to start.  He squatted and whispered in a kiddie voice “what’s it gonna be??”

They played Brought to the Water from New Bermuda.  It’s the same encore they played last time I saw them.  It was a massive hit with the fans then and it may have been an even bigger hit with the fans this time.  The song sounded huge. The quite parts were catchy and George danced on the platform to the melodic parts.

And then it was done too.

I am very glad I had quality earplugs in, because there was no ringing at all, and I have to assume that there should have been a lot of ringing.  I don’t know that I would need to see them again.  Perhaps it depends on what the new album will sound like.  They have changed their sound quite a bit recently, so I’m curious what direction they’ll go in.

∞ Infinite Granite (2021)
♥ Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (2018)
∀ adult swim single (2014)
ß New Bermuda (2015)
§ Sunbather (2013)