Deerhoof Secret Mobilization

Deerhoof, oh Deerhoof. I could never love another the way I love you. I went to this show with no expectations and afterwards left with a whole new appreciation. The openers were nothing notable, so let's just get to the good stuff.

From the minute the band walked on stage, I could sense their vibes of appreciation and love for the crowd. Without wasting a minute, singer Satomi stood at the very edge of the stage and coached everyone to sing along. At first the crowd wasn't quite following, so Satomi stopped everything to reiterate the proper chorus line in the cutest fucking Japanese accent ever. After that, the bond was born. Everyone was completely enthralled with Deerhoof, and understandably so! Their set was so grungefully clean, on point, and energetic that the whole night came and went so quickly that I'm pretty sure everyone had the rug pulled out from under their feet.

There was one point during the show, in between songs, when drummer Greg graciously took the liberty to thank the Philly crowd for being so receptive and energetic, stating that it was the largest Philly crowd he had seen at a Deerhoof show thus far. I couldn't help but continue to think of the band Yes throughout Deerhoof's set. They share the dynamics and unabashed complexity that is so rare to perfect and hear and see these days. A fellow die-hard music enthusiast friend who accompanied me to the show even mind-blowingly stated during their set, "I don't think the crowd even realizes what they're doing up there." And I agreed. They make their archetype genre seem so effortless yet if anyone were to try to duplicate their intricate style, I'm confident that they'd forever remain perplexed.

Deerhoof made it a point to mix up their set with old and new songs, which definitely appealed to fans. They even opened up with a Ramones song -- when does that ever happen?! Satomi's usually relaxed disposition took a breather while she made sure to work the whole crowd, running from side to side on stage, standing on top of speakers, and holding the microphone into the crowd while doing a signature dance that made me want to squeeze her cheeks.

This whole show left me speechless; it was just on another level. I felt like my brain was slowly melting in the best way possible throughout their whole set. It was that night that I made a vow to catch every Deerhoof show that comes my way from there on out. It's a high without the drugs.

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