Battles and Deerhunter was my last South Street Seaport show for the summer, and allow me to reiterate what a great concert series this is; I sorely miss it when it’s cold outside. Props to all those who help make this happen, even the corporate overlords. And a fitting finale it was, with the Seaport about as full as I’ve seen it for any of these free shows.

Deerhunter were still in the midst of being the band that was everywhere and full of unnecessary drama, a moment that has thankfully passed. At that particular show, the newest was that their guitar player had recently quit, and this may have been their first show without him. He quit, by the way, because he was quite tired of all the unnecessary drama surrounding the band. Let this be a lesson to all future super-hyped blogfork bands: some drama, good. Too much drama, and not only do fans weary of hearing about it, but your guitar player quits too. Apart from all that, they still sounded pretty good. The bands rhythm section was probably better than they were when I saw them a month and a half earlier, but now Bradford Cox, the singer and center of the show, was strapped into a guitar and not free to roam and stalk in the ways that made him both frightening and compelling the last time. He managed, however, to be the center of attention anyway. The band was also not quite used to this arrangement, as the guitars sounded a bit sloppy. But it was still a pretty good show, and I’m happy I had the chance to hear Deerhunter play these songs again.

Ah, Battles. Fellow music-fanatic friends of mine, whose taste I respect and often overlap with, didn’t stop raving about the Battles record for the entire summer. I dutifully gave it several listens, and very much tried to understand what about it was so mind-blowing to so many folks. Speaking of which, that packed crowd at the Seaport was largely there to see Battles; there was no doubt to me about who the bigger band was, or is, for that matter. Anyway, I failed miserably in penetrating the proggy unpredictability and virtuoso skill on the record, but was hoping that live it all might make more sense, or at least be more enjoyable. I can absolutely say that it did not make any more sense live, but it was a compelling set for several reasons: I cannot understate the level of musicianship necessary to not only write, but then recreate live such complicated, difficult polyrhythms and melodies (I’m not sure that “melody” is actually the right word to describe what a band like Battles is doing, as it feels like a bit of an oversimplification, and there isn’t a great deal that is “melodic” in the way that I normally think of the term). The performance of music like that, with that level of intensity and a big audience, is a physically tiring experience. It commands respect, and literally wore me out trying to keep up listening to it. I couldn’t make it through the whole set, though that didn’t actually take anything away from the experience. As it stands, the Battles form of prog is not my cup of tea (there are few types of prog, if any, that I get into), but I’m happy to have seen them. Lastly, props to their drummer, who somehow made having one crash symbal placed high above his head, using it for occasional dramatic effect, somehow cool. I don’t know how he did it, and I would not encourage others to try.

Labels: Battles, Concert Reviews, Deerhunter