Live in Dan Deaconville

Sometimes when a concert is just SO GOOD, I immediately realize I'm too lazy to do the concert the full justice it deserves, so I kinda just sit idle in terms of its appearance in this blog. But, now comes the time to post about the Dan Deacon in Vancouver B.C. show which was one of those such experiences. It was a lineup I was more than familiar with - Montag opening for everyone's favorite Wham City resident as I'd taken them in together but one month before in Glasgow, Scotland. And that's what brings me to the funny thing about the show - I've now caught him turning his light bulb on and off to the beat of his electronics three different times in three different countries. It's like I'm some super fan. Before the Vancouver show I would categorize myself as a casual fan - seeing him when the random chance arose, but after? I'm definitely a super fan! The show was like a celebration of being human. If only all concerts were like that. I'd settle for even a fraction.

The show began with support from Vancouver's own Montag - still proud to be gay and still bitching about the Olympics - in the most poppily poetic way possible. His boyfriend was in the audience which was cute. One of my fave Montag songs is about him so that was a fun admission from Montag when he made an onstage dedication to a someone on my right.

There was no ode to the Ying Yang Twins T-shirt in sight, but there were two adolescent boys directly up front facing the audience and seemingly craving some attention for their rave-like antics that didn't yet fit with the vibe of the night. They eventually got kicked out after some woman accused them of something. How do I know even that detail? Well, Meg and I had been watching them and as soon as we noticed their inevitable ejection, I raced down to the doors to listen in on what the security guards were scolding them about.

Next up was Ultimate Reality - a psychedelic montage of Arnold Swartzenegger footage with two drummers and some read-aloud action from Jimmy Joe Roche in regular intervals. It was pretty rad and the drummer from Ponytail was pretty cute. After the show him and Meg had a short convo about high-waisted jeans. Not only cute, but now tres cool.

So the main event? Not only did Dan Deacon attempt the human tent/gauntlet thing, but the dance circle too! Whenever I've seen him prior it's been one or the other, not both and I've never seen either executed so well! Canadians not only know how to follow directions, but they know how to take it up a notch too.

(every one points downwards as warm-up)

Can we just briefly talk about how cool the dictionary's definition of gauntlet is?
Gauntlet: go through an intimidating or dangerous crowd, place, or experience in order to reach a goal.

Oh how I'm loving you more and more Dan Deacon!

I got tagged into the dance circle. It was really funny - Meg and I were stumping to be the first in so that we could do the Crank Dat Soulja Boy dance that we know by heart from staying up until 6am too many nights in a row to watch various tribute and instructional videos. We weren't and Dan's rule was that one person from each half of the circle had to be tagged in at a time eliminating the possibility of us going in together since we were standing together. Everyone tagged in was doing beyond elaborate dances and once Meg made certain I was thrown to the wolves by volunteering me to the next one in hahahaha, I did not do the Crank Dat dance. TonyX said I looked like a hippy during my turn. Why? Because each couple of people tagged in were dancing with each other - some gracefully, some seeking bodily harm and there was no way I was gonna lose an eye at Dan Deacon, so I did flow-y movements to deter my random dance partner from trying to dance with me and keep him at arms length hahahaha. As I understand it, dance partners weren't even the original intention, but rather a dance-off.

(me dancing taken by Tony)

Back in December I asked Dan to open one of his Portland shows with "It's Dan Deacon, bitch" in an ode to Britney. He said if he remembered, he would. Before the show I asked him whether he had, and while he remembered, he didn't end up doing it because he has "issues with the word bitch." Okay... If he wasn't opening his mouth to sing during his Vancouver set, he was opening it to swear.
We gave him a touch-on, touch-off light shaped like a lightbulb beforehand after he asked to keep it from out portrait session at 8pm. And he incorporated it into his live set! Awesomeness! It got passed around too - too much fun to watch from above standing on the beyond sweltering balcony.

Oh - and I got to rock the mic for my second time at a Dan Deacon show! In a brief pause between songs, I took the opportunity to rush him and start shouting: "Harry Potter, Book 6. Smoke weed everyday." He passed the mic to me, ran it through the vocoder and I shouted and shouted, then began passing the mic to people hoping they'd follow along. They didn't quite know what was going on, which isn't so bad given it was his first ever B.C. show (gasp! shock! the horror!) and he didn't explain for even a second what was going on/the jist of the "song." It was so fun/funny!

This show was definitely the best and most memorable of all three times I've seen him. It appeared to also be so for him as when the show was ending, he took a moment to mention how he has been perpetually touring for the past year and a half and the Vancouver B.C. show at Richard's on Richards was an especially special one. It broke through in the cycle of things for him. It was touching. Cue soft focus lenses if it were being filmed for Oprah.

I'm SOOOOO glad I saw him in B.C. over PDX based on just about everyone's reviews of the attendees at his duo of Portland shows. He said he felt like he had to remind people to dance at them - even the all-ages program at Backspace. And from what I hear of the Holocene show, it was more people coming to watch a show than be apart of one, which I guess had to happen at some point given the press on the craziness that ensues when he parks his electronic and lights just below the stage.

Hands down one of the best concerts of 2008 already.

Comments

[Aaron Colter]

Did you miss the Dan Deacon Holocene show? It was amazing as well!