Re-viewing the DIY scene

deafheaven headlines bottom of the hill

last Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing one of the best bands ive recently discovered in some time, deafheaven. & at one of my favorite venues, the bottom of the hill.

deafheaven was the headliner this night, so I was really excited to see what they would pull out. I was wise this time & brought earplugs, as I had learned the first time I saw them, they certainly live up to their name. they definitely delivered a spectacular headlining performance. the crowd was in rare form, breaking into a chaotic mosh pit within seconds of the first notes. kinda crazy, & very unexpected, I haven’t seen a mosh pit in a small club, ever, I think. in my younger days I probably would have jumped right in, but I decided to stick to the edge. the band, a five piece from right here in San Francisco, really put on a stellar show, crisp clean performance with a nice mix of new & old songs. the benefit of seeing them headline was; first, the longer set time, giving them ample time to play a well rounded set, & second, the performance itself is a little enhanced, considering the crowd is mostly there to see them. & their stage presence was certainly enhanced, most notably in the lead singer, who had a number of stage quirks I missed the first time I saw them. such as; sticking his fingers down his throat, & licking his hands/fingers then rubbing himself, & grasping his crotch. a little unnerving at first, but hey it creates fun stage dynamics. he also got a lot of crowd surfing in, along with many members of the audience, including several stage dives, another thing which was a bit unexpected. still, even with all these crazy antics going on about me, the music was still center stage, showcasing their remarkable ability to blend the dreamy melodic tones of post-rock, with the brutal onslaught of black metal. the dynamics of their music continues to impress and astound me. a fantastic performance, definitely the highlight of the evening.
just before deafheaven, the stage was occupied by a great trio, named marriages, featuring two members of red sparrows (another spectacular post-rock group). they had a bit more tonal, & slightly muted sound, with very atmospheric, almost ethereal, vocals. a good balance I suppose to the much more abrasive style of the headliners. their song writing was wonderful, & performance flawless, but I honestly felt they were maybe a bit too subdued for this particular show. but again, it did provide a wonderful balance to the other groups that evening. really quite a mature, & highly developed musical experience, they could very easily create a beautiful, & inspiring soundscape, full of hills & valleys, & several layers of texture. ultimately they could easily have held their own as headliners, & probably do/will.
the opening band this evening was another post-metal sounding group, monuments collapse, which even featured the bassist of deafheaven as vocalist. much like deafheaven, they blended the ambient melodies of post-rock, with abrasive, screaming vocals, & more hardcore overtones. not just a carbon copy of the headliners, they had a slightly more groove, even a little “chucka chucka” style, similar to some of the heavier post-rock groups out there, but then included hoarse & guttural growls. perhaps a bit more “rough-around-the-edges” than the more crisp & polished sounds of deafheaven, I actually really enjoyed this group, & hope to hear more from them in the future.
altogether, this was a fantastic night. im not sure when ill be going to another show, but I will be trying to keep up this consistency of posts. perhaps next will be a record review of sorts, either the new trust’s “keep dreaming” or the wild ones’ cd. so stay tune for more music & keep it diy.