Atlanta band Deerhunter played First Avenue last night promoting their current album “Fading Frontier”. Their US tour had them play multiple dates in several cities.
Deerhunter’s front man Bradford Cox opened the evening in his solo persona Atlas Sound. His 45 minute set was free flowing jams with loops (and birds on his last song) and certainly set the mood for the evening.
The full band took the stage with “Desire Lines” drawing the 7 minute song out into what seemed one giant guitar jam. It had been a few year since Deerhunter was in the twin cities and even longer since they played at First Avenue. Cox mentioned the stars painted on the outside of the venue and how INXS and another band I did not catch were side by side and that he would buy 2 pairs of headphones so he could listen to each band on one ear. “Snakeskin” took a restart but worked well on the second attempt. Halfway through the set, Cox went on a bit of a comedy detour but was pulled back by the rest of the band.
The set list featured many songs from their last offering but also included fan favorites. Speaking of fans, the crowd was mature with the crowd being serious about their music. The merch booth was small with 1-2 types of t-shirts. Overall a great show focused on music rather than glitz and glamour.
Setlist:
Desire Lines / Breaker / Duplex Planet / Revival / Don’t Cry / Living My Life / Rainwater Cassette Exchange / All the Same / Take Care / Snakeskin / Nothing Ever Happened
Encore:
Ad Astra / The Killing of a Chinese Bookie Monologue / Cover Me Slowly / Agoraphobia / Helicopter