Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Darwin Deez, Soundtrack To Our Summer?

Darwin Deez at the EchoImage by deenah moffie via Flickr
Last night, where to begin? I shall start with Last.fm which is a popular Internet radio site, which builds a detailed profile of our musical taste by recording details of the songs we listen to, either streamed online, from our computer or the many portable music devices. The personalised event recommendations I have found add the most value, the site recommends events based on listening preferences.

Introducing Darwin Deez, an American Indie folk band from New York City that have rhythm like The Strokes and the personality of Flight of the Conchords. I have only recently been introduced to Flight of the Conchords, the 'angry dance' could definitely be on the blueprint. You may be familiar with their second single Radar Detector which has been play listed on Radio 1 lately. I rate their sound, unfortunately their tour sold out but I was contacted by the promoter Anika Mottershaw after offering to trade one of my children on the Last.fm event page! Not sure that was the deciding factor but anyway I managed to secure a ticket to see Darwin Deez perform at The Allotment, Black Heart in Camden!

After making sure that the children were secure, I had a brief conversation with my partner in Spain before heading to Camden Town. I arrived at the Black Heart and headed upstairs to The Allotment, I instantly noticed Darwin with his trademark variable length curly hair complete with a headband walking amongst the fans gathering inside. I secured a position at the front and waited as Extradition Order, supporting act for the evening, prepared for their performance. They would like to be precisely incoherent. Somewhere in-between the NY Doll's Trash and Fred McDowell's Shake 'em on down. Not familiar with either but I really enjoyed their set, jumping in at the last minute they provided a solid build up to the main event!

Being at the front meant that I obviously had a good view of the preparations, the decor was impressive with flowers across the musical equipment and Darwin Deez embossed on the wall. I love their clothing, almost straight out of the 80's with plimsolls that could have been worn for almost thirty years.
They call what they do, variously, "happy music for sad people", "white music for black people" and "indie rock with a side of calisthenics". (guardian.com)
Eventually, Darwin appears through the capacity crowd and with the anticipation building the Darwin Deez, accompanied with 80's pop songs take to the stage. I have been to various events and seen many acts recently but this was definitely special. I'm not exactly a dancer, although I have practised moves with my partner and children, I couldn't compete with the Deez. They performed several daft synchronised dance routines that were inspirational. Not just during the introduction either, several times they combined to dance and swing their arms around. This wasn't an ordinary performance but then they aren't your average band! Up In The Clouds started the set, Constellations and Deep Sea Divers followed in a Julian Casablancas-esque monotone. In twined with the dance routines to mixes including Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Do The Bart Man, they performed several songs from the album. I enjoyed Bed Space but the biggest cheer came when Radar Detector started, Darwin welcomed the crowd as everyone began singing the chorus! They returned for a brief encore, this included a dance routine and finished with The Bomb Song. The foursome ran into the crowd during the finale and finally ended up piled on the stage, greeted with cheers and admiration.

Afterwards, I was introduced to the band through one of the lead dancers from the West End production Stomp! I have no idea how I'm able to find myself in such circumstances but it was an experience. I just need to meet Steve Jobs, the iPhone camera is disappointing and the photos I took appear to display my head merging with Darwin's! I ended the adventure still confused how a couple had gained entry to the concert with a cake they had baked?! Another good night, hurry back from Spain!!!!



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