It's Dan Deacon, bitch

I didn't see Kanye West, but I saw the next best - or better best. Yes - having not managed my way onto the glist at the SECC (tracking down Mr. West's info is a bit like finding the personal details for Miss Spears) I turned to the other show that had just winged it's way into my consciousness - Dan Deacon at Nice N' Sleazy's. With some VERY last minute maneuvering on behalf of Dan's right-hand man Chester (not a grinning cat though) Endersby Gwazda and pr man with the mostest Daniel Gill I sauntered downstairs with a band already on. Who was it? Who was it? Why it was only Gay Against You!!! I hadn't seen the duo since I last was in Glasgow - literally days before I moved back to the States in '06. We took photos at the University.

Literally - what was the FIRST thing I listened to when I got to Leigh's flat in Maryhill just last week? "Gay Unicorn!" Oh how the planets aligned for me on this night hahahahaha. They saved the track for their encore.

During their set they were all over the place - hovering at the ceiling, sprawled on the floor and getting a lil' help in the form of a human mic stand.

"Gay Unicorn" Gay Against You MP3 -pure pop perfection - if pop checked out of a mental institute earlier than ordered.

http://www.myspace.com/gayagainstyou

Next up was multi-instrumentalist Montag (Deutsch for Monday) - hailing from the fine country that is Canada. He's French-Canadian chic and held a conversation with a fellow Quebec dweller on and off through out his set - so much so that he started speaking to the crowd in French before realizing - hey - we speak English here hahaha. He said seeing Dan Deacon is like a "soul massage" and spoke about how happiness is a choice. Bright words, but sometimes hard to adhere to. Montag currently is living it up in Vancouver when not on tour, though perhaps 'living it up' isn't the best phrasing as now that the Olympics are moving in, it's not really his bag anymore more which he went into briefly from the stage.

Noting that we'd just seen Gay Against You, he continued on that he was "gay for you."

He's very fun! Oh - and the shirt he was wearing proved his allegiance lies not with Mr. Andre 3000, but the Ying Yang Twins as it proclaimed "Shake it like a Salt Shaker" as opposed to a polaroid. What 'till you see my...

Dan Deacon was next. Let's fast-forward to after the show shall we? I requested that Dan open either or both of his forthcoming Portland dates in January with "It's Dan Deacon bitch."

Yeah - I'm that obsessed with Britney. Anyone says the word bitch anymore and I instantly relate it to "Gimme More." Dan made that mistake when he was trying to get people to dance and came up with this elaborate plot in which two cartoon characters including Daffy the Duck make their way into the club looking like hot shit and throw down $2K and tell us we better dance in so many words, concluding the command with "Bitch!"

Did this make people dance? Well, kind of, well almost...
The show was SO different to his show at Holocene during MusicFest NW and what I see happening at most all his American shows.

We got our work out early on during his soundcheck. He's rocking an i-pod shuffle now. Yes. An i-pod shuffle. As if it wasn't hard enough for him to keep his songs straight with a more streamlines actual ipod, he's moved to an even more shady contraption. It turns off at any given moment and rather frequently - clearly the tool of choice for a live show! I asked him why he got a shuffle and he said it was because he's cheap and it was cheaper than getting a replacement i-pod when his other died.

What does he have on there other than his own tracks? Why only House of Pain! he played it and I requested he take it to the chorus and he did. He played it repeatedly in fact. Instead of seeing Kanye cry and sing about touching the sky - Dan had us kneeling on the ground and reaching for the sky (or at least the ceiling) ourselves with our palms and index fingers and visually harassing strangers. Very strange, very fun.

I made my request early on for "Harry Potter. Book 6. Smoke weed everyday" and got it. He even handed me the mic and started modifying my voice. People followed along, but didn't really know what was going on with the chanting.

He also passed the mic off to this guy who talked soaps and other random things.

Soon he had us doing a circular version of Soul Train as opposed to his usual human tent thing. The dance circle had four instructions - one of them being to look "sassy as fuck." Dan didn't seem to impressed with the footwork - apparently London did it better just a few days prior - I never got tagged in. Boo.

Dance, dance! (We're falling apart to half time...) (Yes - I just snuck a FOB track in! Pete Wentz 4eva!)

He had no lyrics sheets for "Wham City," but we sang along anyway!
For the last song - performed well over his appointed set end time, we/he wrote a song on the spot and then it was over - another fascinating cartoon filled adventure into the warped mind of a rallying Mr. Deacon.

"The House I Was Isn't My Girlfriends Porsche" Dan Deacon MP3

After the show I overheard this girl saying to her friends "It's hardwork being poor" Ain't that the truth! Ain't that the truth! God - and if I view it as work, it somehow makes it more bearable, so I thank my ears for eavesdropping and her acknowledging that truth aloud. It's difficult enough being poor in Portland, but especially over here where the pound is worth double the dollar and a lot of the people I've been running with here are rich, rich, rich.

So as I made my way up the stairs a couple was discussing their babysitter just ahead of me. Who were they? Well, just Paul Thomson and a fabulous looking Esther of course! hahaha I knew there was no way I was gonna be in Glasgow and not come across at least one Franz Ferdinander.

Comments

[meg]

omg - stop having so much fun without me! hahah
seriously though, looks like you're having a blast! i'm so happy the hell is over. hahah

[propecia online]

everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But each and every one of you should be very proud of yourselves for having taken the step you did, and that was by taking this adventure.