Went to the Crow Bar in Tampa last Sunday with Jay and saw Deerhoof. I really wasn't sure what to expect, because I am a fairly recent fan of the band and have not heard about how they are at playing live.
When we finally found the club, we waited for about an hour for the first band, The Harlem Shakes, to take the stage. I haven't seen a band ever take so long to do sound check. Once they were done getting ready, they were pretty good, they sounded like a cross between Clap Your Hands meets Interpol meets The Strokes. They had alot of energy, but I wont be buying any of their albums from what I saw.
Next up was Busdriver, a hiphop act featuring a guy spitting out lyrics so fast they were almost incoherent and a skinny white guy doing insane beats. This act was the surprise of the night. Busdriver was loud, fast, funny, and unapologetic. He got the whole crowd jumping and singing the choruses of songs 90% of the kids there had never heard before, which was very impressive.
Finally, Deerhoof took the stage and delivered an amazing performance. Lead singer/bassest Satomi Matsuzaki sang more as instrument then actual lyrics. The drums were almost tribal sounding at times and like a drum machine at others. The guitar stayed pretty close to the album material, but sometimes sped up the sound or slowed it down which was nice. There was also this crazy windmill contraption that kept the audience mesmerized with the rainbow LEDs that spun and changed colors in conjunction with the music. Jay and I got to meet the guitarist after the show and he talked about being influnenced by Sonic Youth and what he thought about Animal Collective. I was really happy I got a chance to see these guys live and I'll be sure to see them again if I ever get the chance.
