For a number of reasons, It is perhaps fitting that Deerhunter are playing in a converted church. Not least because of the godlike attributes often bestowed upon frontman Bradford Cox, which are displayed in abundance tonight. Equally revered are the fans; the trance-like state they have been whipped into is reminiscent of American Baptist churches, with many, according to Cox, having travelled 9 hours from London to attend the gig (“We are there next week, you could have waited,” he quips).
This fanaticism means no-one becomes apprehensive when the first words Cox utters are “We recorded a new song during soundcheck tonight. Literally. Its called ‘Glasgow 90′”. This is the second song Cox has written about Glasgow (the other being ‘Glasgow ABC’ by his other musical outfit, Atlas Sound).
Starting a set with a brand new song may induce groans towards a band of lesser musical quality, but tonight Deerhunter are preaching to the converted. Firing through a reasonably conventional setlist that spans their entire career, they leave the experimentation until the hits are out of the way. The band bring out crowd pleasers ‘Never Stops’, ‘Helicopter’, ‘Agoraphobia’, ‘Little Kids’ and ‘Hazel St’ with authority. The night turns particularly zealous during an incredible ‘Nothing Ever Happened’, in which Cox spits the lyrics to Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ over a frenetic extended outro (oddly enough it wasn’t too long ago that Patti Smith herself graced the same stage).
Deerhunter finish with a mind altering version of ‘Octet’, in which Cox and guitarist Lockett Pundt sit down and settle in on stage as if they are about to start an occupation against spending cuts. Together they blast through at least ten minutes of distortion, feedback and wailing as the congregation begin to file out, audibly stunned by what they have just witnessed.
Outside a super fan waits for his God, eager for Cox and band to sign a bag he has made with pictures of the four members of Deerhunter sown onto it. He is jumping up and down as if he has just had an epiphany, and to be honest, he probably isn’t the only one.
- Deerhunter - 5 April 2011