If you’re just jumping in and haven’t read last week’s column, I’ll bring you up to speed – I’m in the USA, living a (mostly) heavy metal adventure. Last week while in Los Angeles for the ISIS reunion show, I met with the booking agent behind said gig to discuss all sorts of musical opportunities and potential projects on which we could work together. Within half an hour of us having met, he offered me a seat in his car and invited me on an obscure journey the following week to go see one of the acts he books – none other than post-black metal leaders Deafheaven.
This wasn’t a normal gig however, and the band was to kick off their latest US tour in a place called Pioneertown. About two-three hours outside of LA, Pioneertown was built in the 1946 to be a living 1880’s styled wild west set for film and television production. Over time, production slowed down, and tourism ramped up, and it now exists as a bit of both, with a population of roughly 400 people. It also boasts a honky-tonk saloon and live music venue called Pappy and Harriet’s that has hosted performances from all sorts of acts over the years, including Paul McCartney and Queens of The Stone Age. I was to witness Deafheaven join those ranks, alongside their slightly more unlikely touring partners – Brooklyn based rock/shoegaze band DIIV.
Deafheaven is truly a special band, and to see them enthral a crowd larger than the entire population of the town itself was something truly unique. Out the back of the saloon and under the crystal clear desert sky, the band ripped through tracks from their newest record Ordinary Corrupt Human Love and prior record New Bermuda with the dual forces of ferocity and sensitivity that sets the band apart, running at an intensity that surpassed any prior time I’ve seen them. Having not said a word for the first two thirds of the set, vocalist George Clarke finally opened up to the crowd to thank them for joining the band for such an occasion, and announced that they would play the song ‘Glint’ for the first time ever on US soil right then and there, before closing with fan favourite ‘Dreamhouse’. It did indeed, seem kind of like a dream, and my night slowed out into ethereal conversations with dreamy desert wanderers, before heading back to the big smoke.
I’ve just landed in Austin, Texas, where my unexpectedly extended trip will now continue with Perth metalcore band Make Them Suffer. Currently on tour with legendary US bands After The Burial and The Acacia Strain, both of whom are celebrating ten years of certain iconic albums, I’m about to go jump in the van and make some no doubt debaucherous circles back towards LA. Catch you next week to tell you all about it.
