Tiger Choir have escaped the untouched serenity of Tasmania’s mountains and set out on an adventure to spread their home grown brand of new wave to the rest of the country. The band casually introduced themselves and the state of Tasmania before launching into their first song with a couple of heavy drum smacks. It was a mind blowing first impression, with bouncy electronics and layers of samples building up a strong, futuristic sound. The song ended to a series of whistling and applause, the music genuinely seeming to have attracted a bit of interest from the headlining Deerhunter‘s fans.
The band is quite difficult to pigeon hole, with some songs featuring intense guitar riffs and a measly attempt at some sort of structure, and others ditching it entirely, going for fragmented electronic beats. The best thing about seeing Tiger Choir perform was the intimacy and casual nature in which they played, almost like seeing a band play out of someone’s garage. They invited everyone in the theatre to “come join their great party” up the front and really left an impression both with the intensity of their unpolished musical beats and the friendliness in which they played it.
A short break later and Deerhunter were up, launching immediately into “Cryptograms”. The song was dragged into an extreme instrumental outro, the music droning on uncontrollably. Whilst the song faded into a somewhat experimental and hypnotic dragging of noise, it didn’t fail to entrance the audience. Next was “Desire Lines”, almost completely juxtaposing the first performance with its poppier brand of rock. And that’s what the show was like – a series of contrasting melodies and styles effortlessly showcasing the band’s musical diversity. Deerhunter’s melancholy ambiance refuses to be bound by genre restrictions and whilst they seem to be primarily focused on a shoegazey minimalism, their music still resonates a poppy post-punk energy.
The show continued with a solid number of songs from their 2010 album Halcyon Digest, “Memory Boy” and “Helicopter” being highlights; as well as others from previous albums Cryptograms and Microcastle. The set ended with the Jay Reatard tribute “He Would Have Laughed” setting quite a sinister tone before the band returned for an encore with “Agoraphobia”, “Never Stops”, and “Fluorescent Grey”. Deerhunter’s live show could most accurately be described as an extended series of structured music, droning jam sessions, and periods of noisy ambiance. It may not have fallen within the ideal expectations of fans who had not seen the band live before, but the performance was stylishly hypnotic and the music’s continuous waver between raw energy and shadowy experimentalism was absolutely captivating for the length of the show.
