Deafheaven
8th June 2023
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Kev Rowland. Photography by Doug Peters.
It was down to the Tuning Fork on a school night for a very special event, as not only was it the second of Deafheaven’s two shows in Aotearoa, it was also the penultimate show ever for Tuscoma who after supporting Deafheaven both here and in Wellington are ending their career with a show in Christchurch tomorrow night. Ambient Light were at the San Fran gig as well and having read the superb review from my good friend Rene Black, I knew we were in for a treat.
Kicking off with Something Is Never Enough, we were taken into an atmospheric world heavy on cymbal taps and strange chords coming from the guitar and bass, but just when I was sure we were heading into solid doom, they brought in black metal and avant garde to create something dystopian, exciting, and incredibly dramatic. Joe Wright is one of those drummers who keeps shifting patterns throughout, while bassist Craig Leahy, who also provides backing vocals, sits in the pocket to create harsh countermelodies and support for guitarist/vocalist Kurt Williams. If one thinks of “progressive” as a mindset as opposed to a genre comprised of Genesis clones, then there is no doubt Tuscoma are one of the most progressive bands around as they blend styles with no need to meet any expectations apart from what they set for themselves. Impeccable goes from being breakneck ferocious to having a gap so long that I wondered if the song had finished, but then they were back as if nothing had happened. In many ways their music is built around the drums, as the wall of sound coming from the bass and guitar is broken up by the snare and cymbals with Joe showing that blast beats and grindcore style drumming are absolutely fine with him. He commenced The Importance Of Being Vogue with tribal-styles and just three songs in I was asking myself how I had never seen these guys before tonight as their sound and presence is just immense, massively over the top where nothing else exists.
The venue was looking pretty full by now, with everyone pushing down to the front to ensure they missed nothing of the carnage being created on the stage. Everything is over the top with these guys, from the sounds being wrought from the guitar, the bass rhythm and the octopus on the kit, the vocals were indecipherable, the volume was up, but it was the sheer majesty and scale of the music they were creating which had everyone spellbound. How they can go from over-the-top grindcore into doom with bass slabs firm enough to build a house on then into black metal yet have it all make sense is totally beyond me. There are few bands who keep shifting signature and time signatures so much within the same song, yet they make it all look and sound so very easy indeed. It may be highly experimental, but to these battered and much abused ears their sound was incredibly exciting and vibrant, and I cannot believe this is not only the first but the last time I will ever see them play. The guys behind the desks were also doing a great job, keeping the sound nice and loud and with a great mix, while the lights were being used to great effect, sometimes washing them in colour and at others almost strobing to bring across the drama of the music. This will not be to everyone’s tastes, as here is a band who refuse to conform to expectations, so much so that many of the songs they were playing tonight were new and had never been recorded yet they were just about to break up! They finished with The After Hour Party, which started life with a weird psychedelic style guitar melody before blasting into black metal inspired grindcore, which again kept twisting and changing throughout. It was going to take a very special performance indeed from Deafheaven to match this intensity, as Tuscoma just ripped the place to pieces, and their set was over way too soon.
Deafheaven walked onto a stage bathed in red light to the sounds of Sycamore Trees, but if anyone thought the band had mellowed at all they were in for an almighty shock as George Clarke stepped up to the microphone and they were off into Black Brick. His manic shouts/screams provide an edge of distortion over the wall of sound being generated by the rest of the band behind him, and he is always in motion, living every word. Deafheaven are back in Aotearoa for the first time in four years to support their fifth album, Infinite Granite, and were soon showing why they are linked with so many different genres, as they can be gentle and reflective when they want to be, but at others the band is bouncing as much as the crowd as they mix black metal with shoegaze and so much more. We were promised some old songs to go with the new ones and it was somewhat surprising not to see a massive mosh erupt during Sunbather as they certainly deserved it. In some ways this band is built on the vocals of George and the drumming of Daniel Tracy to provide the cut through while guitarists Kerry McCoy and Shiv Mehra along with bassist Chris Johnson give us a wall of sound.
They took a breather during the introduction to Gifts for the Earth, while George knelt catching his breath, but as soon as the riffs started there were shouts of recognition from the crowd as the band continued to work through old favourites. Musically this has a lot in common with the likes of the UK 80’s indie scene with The Cure obviously springing to mind, while some of the guitar had some U2 influences, although the vocals and drums were taking these stylings into a whole new dimension. Having been playing older numbers it was only now they started to play songs from the last album, with the first being In Blur. In some ways this is almost like a different band as the style still had jangly guitars, but they are not as forceful while George sings quite differently, Chris has some lead lines while Shiv also adds keyboards as they move far more into Simple Minds territory. The band were still working hard, but the energy levels and intensity had dropped, no matter what Daniel did to keep pushing. Great Mass of Color was better, blending the newer direction with the older one, but the twin vocal approach just does not have the dramatic impact of when George is pushing to extremes, which is what happens again towards the end.
Keyboards introduced the next song, as gradually they built into Worthless Animal with reverberating picked guitar suddenly being overwhelmed by the vocals from a crouching George, throwing everything into the emotion of his approach. He was up near the end, and it is when the band are putting everything into their music, pushing the limits, that they make the biggest impression. At one point, George was off at the side of the stage allowing the guitarists to take the centre as they put all their energies into driving it to a climax. They ended the set with another newie, Mombasa, and again the energy levels slowed right down as this approach is so different to what they have done previously. It seemed a very strange choice to close things out with, as yet again they were bringing in solid doses of Simple Minds, no matter what Daniel was doing to try to inject some urgency. Towards the end they reverted to their earlier style, but this felt as if it were two different songs as opposed to one with two sections, such is the difference in styles.
They then left the stage for the obligatory encore (which at Tuning Fork means leaving the venue), George returning to tell everyone to get close to the stage and then the rest of the guys appeared as he introduced Brought To The Water, and it was time for both crowd and the band to go crazy yet again. This has a driving crunching style which is one of their fastest and heaviest numbers, quite a contrast to the newer material, demonstrating just how intense they can be. George promised everyone they would be back soon, and then we had the gentle introduction into Dream House, which was soon being blasted by the twin guitars, and we were off for the final wild ride.
Two great bands, another great night at The Tuning Fork.
Deafheaven:
Tuscoma:
Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this triumphant blackened alt-metal gig? Or have you seen Deafheaven perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Deafheaven Setlist:
- Sycamore Trees [Jimmy Scott cover]
- Black Brick
- Interlude (Irresistable)
- Sunbather
- Gifts for the Earth
- In Blur
- Great Mass of Color
- Worthless Animal
- Mombasa
- Brought to the Water [encore]
- Dream House [encore]
Tuscoma Setlist:
- Something Is Never Enough
- Impeccable
- The Importance Of Being Vogue
- Systematic Romance
- Satellites
- Love Turns Up With Tragedy
- The After Hour Party
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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