Live music review: Indie legends Deerhoof stopped at Radio East last weekend
On a warm Saturday, October 4 evening, San Francisco-based, indie-rock quartet, Deerhoof, headlined a stellar show at Radio/East on a night that also marked the first weekend of ACL Festival, Resound and Radio/East offered a less stressful live music option for fans. Austin’s Resound Presents booked the show in conjunction with the venue. The performance was second to last of their 31 Flavors tour before their final North American stop in Denton, Texas. The group head to Japan next month.
Nestled nicely on a roughly two-acre space in south east Austin, the venue provided the perfect atmosphere for the evening’s musical showcase. With plenty of standing space, tables, and seating, the venue leaves one feeling as if they’ve travelled through a time warp to Austin, circa 1995. The laid-back mood quickly changed when the music began, at around 8 p.m..
Houston hardcore—and self-described queercore trio, Ten Cent Life, immediately set the tone with an intro and the song, “Gratitude Journals,” a high-energy, metal-punk fusion that immediately had the crowd enthralled. Guitarist and vocalist Valerie Fendley’s opening banter incorporated insights to the social-political undertones the band would stir throughout the set. Roman Lanzas played drums and had back-up vocal duties while Ian McLeod strummed out heavy, banging bass.
The Radio/East show marked the last for McLeod and Lanzas with this band. Valerie Fendley is looking to keep this machine moving, saying “If anyone in Houston wants to play blastbeats for some queercore, we’re looking.”
Ten Cent Life setlist:
Intro/Gratitude Journals
Acceptance
Enlist
Zero Sickness
Terms of Use
Living Hell
Kersed
Fold
Innerworld
Magnus Herschfeld
Next up was Wet Dip. The Austin trio opened with Runaround Sue a poignant, melodic number that—like many of the songs from the set—incorporated vocals in Spanish. Wet Dip’s sound is intentionally discordant, meshing back-and-forth in tempo, in an unorthodox, unpredictable fashion, delivered with calculated certainty.
Daniel Doyle and vocalist, Sylvia Rodriguez, split duties on guitar and bass, along with Erica Rodriguez’ drums provided a unique, refreshing composition. Rodriguez’s commentary on the inherent corruption of unchecked capitalism, and modern Texas life—specifically Austin traffic—provided the perfect companion to the Wet Dip set.
Wet Dip Setlist:
Runaround Sue
Lo Barato Sale Caro
2 Note Rumble
Cowboy Up
Everybody Hates a Tourist
The Game
Finale
Deerhoof closed out the night in expert fashion. Formed in 1994, the band’s years of experience were apparent from the opening notes of their performance. Their seasoned musical experience has elevated the group’s loyal following and success in the ensuing years of touring and recording music.
Drummer, Greg Saunier, interjected with subtle humorous anecdotes and comments between songs. Lead vocalist, Satori Matsuzaki, displayed her range with commanding stage presence. John Dieterich carried the bassline rhythms, and Ed Rodríguez shredded on the guitar.
As the show progressed, the quartet’s performance picked up in tempo. Deerhoof’s Radio/East show was a testament to their continued significance and vitality. Check out their latest LP, Noble and Godlike in Ruin. The group’s heady description of their latest studio effort is, well, impressive as is this 31 year-old band.
“As Noble and Godlike in Ruin reaffirms, each one discovers some previously unknown combination of candy-coated hard-rock riffs and free-jazz percussive freakouts, sideways J-pop hooks and fearsome dissonance, trenchant social commentary and surrealist humor. This music is joyful and foreboding, cybernetic and deeply human, carrying an implicit note of defiant optimism in their refusal to bow to convention or received wisdom.”
That sounds like a rock n roll band to us. Deerhoof certainly demonstrated that on a bucolic Texas evening. We hope they come back again soon.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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