Church is a means for people to worship a deity, whatever shape or form that may be. But for some people, there is such a thing as a music god. Sunday may be a day for attending mass, but Saturday night at Metro became a different sort of worship. Led by demi-gods Dan Deacon and Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk, they basically led their congregation of kids into a blitzkrieg of electronic beats and transformed the youth into abiding, sweaty dance machines.
Download: Girl Talk - "Bounce That"
Download: Dan Deacon - "The Crystal Cat"
Fairly new onto the scene, Deacon hails from Baltimore and generates electronic music deemed "Future Rock." Last year's Spiderman of the Rings album was a critical hit and garnered attention through Pitchfork's support. Gillis released Night Ripper in 2006, a laptop mash up of everything from the Black Eyed Peas to Neutral Milk Hotel to Journey to Paula Abdul, mainly cut-and-pasted together with a hip-hop center and snippets of several songs weaving in and out. The last time Deacon and Girl Talk played Chicago together was at Pitchfork Fest over the summer. It was such a chaotic set, the fire marshal had to shut Deacon down. But the fearless lingered around to risk being trampled on, kicked in face, and avoiding heat stroke. While Deacon stands offstage and pushes buttons, sings, and allows the masses to crowd around him, Gillis sets up shop onstage and allows the crowd to stand up there with him as he maneuvers his laptop.
Deacon performs first. He stands in a corner with a sea of people encircling him as visuals swirl on a
screen onstage. The event is an experience akin to a rave except without the ecstasy (hopefully) and people wearing an assortment of neon objects. Holding a single light and his signature green, glowing skull hanging above, Deacon begins to manipulate the sound board and preach to his audience. He plays "Trippy Green Skull" and the crowd goes wild, clapping along. At one point, a bridge of hands forms and people go under them in train fashion. Speaking of the crowd, some denizens have gone all out donning a green leotard, headbands, tight shorts, and even a Santa hat. The vibe creates euphoria as couples begin to heavily make out. Deacon plays "Silence Like the Wind Overtakes Me" allowing it to crest and offering people to sing along. Everyone knows the words. He performs his final song, the epic "Wham City," a song he rarely seems to play live. At Pitchfork over the summer, he got fire marshaled before he could play it, but now it's time for redemption. The crowd jumps around engulfing one another. It's unclear how a guy like Reverend Deacon garnered such a fan base in the first place, but he's figured out a way to bring the masses together communally. With the crowd's adrenaline pumping, it's Gillis' turn to speak to Gen X and Y in what will be a high octane indie rave party.
Girl Talk hits the stage with a background flashing his moniker and words "Ready to Get Down?" Apparently, everyone is. A copious amount of audience members flood the stage for the duration in order to watch Gillis sweat to death. He comes out wearing a white hoodie, Rocky-style. It's going to be a fatiguing set. Confetti flies around as he begins with his first song integrating Rich Boy's "Throw Some D's", Ace of Base and Smashing Pumpkins. He samples "No Diggity" next and plays a remix of song "The Knife" by cult indie darlings Grizzly Bear featuring Clipse rapping over the lyrics. His next tracks mash up "Boyz" by M.I.A, Kellie Clarkson's hit "Since You've Been Gone" and 90s tune "C'mon Ride the Train" by Quad City DJs with his version being named "Kryptonite Train Ride." Gillis doesn't have the toys onstage or guest performers he did at Pitchfork instead opting to let his background fans be a part of the action. Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" gets branded into "Whoomp Wit It, Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It." The crowd recognizes most of the songs and dance along. Near the end of the set, he plays "Faithfully" by Journey and the kids eat it up, moshing along, sweating, and still somehow keep up. Gillis plays some songs from Night Ripper such as "Smash Your Head," but focuses on newer tracks. Going into the encore, he says he doesn't want to be one of those bands that plays forever but decides to give the kids what they want and plays two more songs. The over hour long nonstop dance party ends and Gillis and team are in terrible need of a shower and deodorant.
Walking out, the kids gush saying things like: "That was better than Daft Punk!" One guys remarks that he has no idea whose germs he has on him and doesn't want to think about it. Neither Deacon nor Gillis are doing anything too provocative or groundbreaking (sampling has been around for a while), and with such a fickle market, in another year maybe they won't be relevant anymore. Whether or not they'll stand the test of time is insignificant right now. They both tap into the live experience of bringing people together in an interactive way. They know how to throw a great party, know what their audiences want to hear, and sweat their balls of trying to live up to those expectations. And at least for a couple of hours on a late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, a higher power christens the indie kids and enlightens them for a bit. Amen.
Click here for complete photoset
(...also check out shots here from Kirstie, who shot the early show for Venus magazine and Nicole's coverage for Friday night's "Ultimate Reality" experience with Dan Deacon at Lakeshore Theatre here.)
More great photos at http://avantchicago.com
Posted by: avant/chi | 02/01/2008 at 10:31 AM
Great review for an amazing show. Fun crowd. Probably the closest thing to a riot I'll ever be part of. Soulja Boy sounded tolerable with Journey's help. Sign me up for the next one.
Posted by: Justin | 01/28/2008 at 01:18 PM
Anyone know where some good photos from the late set were of Deacon? I was standing next to the man & need documentation
Posted by: Cory Greenwell | 01/28/2008 at 10:33 AM