Dan Deacon at Whelan's | Review

Dan Deacon at Whelan’s, Dublin Saturday the 9th of February 2013

Anyone who has ever been to a Dan Deacon show will know that it’s a show like no other. The Baltimore resident (that’s the US one, not the one in Clare) has been on the circuit for a decade now and is known for offering a different experience in his live shows. For this electronic musician, the focus is on spectacle and fun for the crowd; the music itself often takes a back seat. Saturday night in Whelan’s was no exception.

Indeed it’s about ten minutes after taking the stage that Deacon finally starts playing some tunes; content as he is to treat crowd to a period of almost stand-up comedy. Accompanied by two drummers and a keyboard player – a reasonably new innovation for Deacon who, in the past, spent his shows creating all the music himself from a position among the crowd – Deacon instructs the audience to point to the ceiling and kneel on the ground. The crowd, clearly accepting of the man’s eccentricities, comply readily.

When the music does start, the focus is on creating sound to get people moving. The drums pound and the synths and keys screech as Deacon’s vocals are distorted into a high-pitched wail. The crowd just jump around with joy. And this is the formula the 90 minute show largely sticks to, much to everyone’s enjoyment.

It would be a Deacon show however without offering something different. At various points throughout the night, he creates games for the audience to play. Early on he forms a circle in the middle of the crowd for two audience members to have a dance-off. These members soon tag others in, and before long the whole lower floor are engaged in a form of competitive situation. Later, the crowd is halved and each side is told to follow the instructions of an appointed leader. It’s crazy, zany fun of the highest order.

Before the night is over, most of the crowd will find themselves travelling through a human tunnel out the emergency exit, onto Camden Row and back into the middle of the venue to the tune of True Thrush. At another point, the venue is lit purely by the light of the crowd’s smartphones: Dan Deacon’s own app flashing different colours in times with changes in the song’s tones.

These may seem like cheap tricks, but the enthusiasm shared by all makes it a hugely enjoyable experience the likes of which you don’t get often enough at live shows. Deacon knows, however, that these bits can only last so long and ends the show with USA I,II & III before people’s sweaty, tired bodies don’t become tired minds and lapse into boredom.