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If red is the colour mostly associated with rage, then Deerhoof’s dainty singer, Satomi Matsuzaki, who’s an image of red tonight (including painted skin), is the polar opposite of this, as she transport’s the Forum’s crowd into a mystical cartoon world with her magic childlike voice.
Of course tonight’s fitting setting of the belated Halloween bash is ripe for the abnormal to become the normal and there are clues all around, including the trio’s guitarist, John Dieterich, who is dressed as a mutant-multi-limbed chef. Founding member and drummer, Greg Saunier, is also in on the act, sporting a balaclava with a bobbing ghost on top that would make any terrified cashier smile mid bank robbery! These images together with the San Franciscans’ abstract melodies and irregular beats could send an unsuspecting newcomer heading straight for the door, but ‘Panda, Panda, Panda’ from 2003’s, ‘Apple O’ sees people in the crowd contort their body in attempts to mirror the music, as one bright spark fails in his half-arsed bid to crowd surf.
It may appear that the indie-experimentalists are improvising to manic proportions during their set, especially with the constant pausing, but it’s soon apparent that the unpredictability follows a precise structure to the letter, or rather, the note. Even Satomi’s uplifting vocals appear like an instrument at times, as it swells, softly filling the space between the instruments like melting marshmallow.
‘+81,’ from this year’s offering, ‘Friend Opportunity,’ provokes the most movement among the crowd, and it also evokes a scene where everyone becomes an anime character, as Satomi leads them all on a barmy-army parade in time to her “Choo-choo-choo’s”. With noise and entertainment like this, who needs the old reliable and much multiplied formula of- verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, anyway?
