Show Pics: Dan Deacon @ The Mohawk (4/23)

I think Austin may have skipped Spring.

I had never been a Dan Deacon fan, but recent tracks wooed me out last Thursday to The Mohawk to finally check out what many friends claimed to be an “event”, even chastising me for not having been. Indeed, I had a good time and, indeed, I enjoyed the live set musically along with the spectacle. Dan was joined on the lineup by Ben O’Brien and Prince Rama.

I have plenty of pics and a few thoughts after the break. Join me, won’t you?

First, quick shout out to The Mohawk. The staff’s patience was tested with several interesting requests, from projectors all over, to fabric screens surrounding the stage. The toll was made evident to early arrivers by a Prince Rama soundcheck running very long and doors to the outdoor space not being opened until twenty minutes before Ben O’Brien was to start his set. Kudos guys and gals; I am finally getting used to the remodel.

Ben O’Brien is funny. The current touring show is about his moment of self-realization, wordsmithing a new anti-religion/religion/cult thing. The key takeaways, Collective Soul is relevant, eggs are the best food and watching someone chug four raw eggs on a warm humid night is gurge-inducing. Ben is part of the Wham City Collective; I have seen another of their projects in the form of Alan Resnick‘s presentation about the digital avatar. I’ll leave you to google and watch.

Prince Rama – Every time I see them, I can’t help but think that I want them to lose the some of the Now Age stage persona, drop the trust fall from every set and focus on the songs. I get it, they want to do something memorable tied into their beliefs, but the songs are getting better and don’t need the distraction. Put the emphasis on a live show’s musicality and I think a greater majority of people that see their middle-lineup sets will walk away impressed. They have some great songs, let them stand on their own. …and yes, I got the cool shot of the fall into the crowd, but not long after, Taraka was nearly dropped, just like every other time I have seen them, and the less then graceful return to the stage was minutes that could have been used by playing some more jams. Later, an attempt to grab a drink from an audience member up front was thwarted because that audience member was not in the mood to give up his drink prompting a Taraka double middle-finger. Maybe I am being too harsh?

Dan Deacon takes the exact opposite tack. Unassuming, happy to serve the audience up tasks to do while enjoying the songs originating from the suitcase full of magic. Though not playing in the middle of the crowd tonight, he used the extra space on the floor to create projects for the audience members to entertain themselves as Dan MIDI’ed their earholes with beats and pitch-shifted vocals; dance tag, split crowd with two dance leaders and more all to make sure everyone could feel involved somehow. There were some sound issues that were worked around and opportunistically woven into the banter between songs, all of which inevitably sounded great. But the later songs, those with a bass-player and live drums really came alive. Probably still not a Dan Deacon devotee, but certainly a fan of the Dan Deacon show.