LIVE: Deerhunter, Standing On The Corner, Circuit Des Yeux at House Of Vans

The penultimate House of Vans show in Brooklyn took place with Deerhunter, Circuit Des Yeux, and Standing in the Corner. Its the dog days of August in New York City; skin soaking humidity and random showers were in full effect. However the crowd was unbothered; when the rain kicked in everyone politely pulled out their umbrellas providing cover for friend and stranger alike and continued to nosh and drink while waiting for the bands to perform.

Deerhunter’s catalog veers from moments of pure pop songwriting to uncontrolled punk indebted chaos and it was reflected on the openers they personally picked. On the chaotic side was NYC’s own Standing on The Corner a collective of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop musicians. They snuck onto the stage lighting incense in various spots to set the mood for the free jazz set they played. Frontperson Gio Escobar set a backdrop of noise while he directed the band behind him; horns, percussion and guitars fought to find grooves and when successful it felt angelic.

Circuit Des Yeux performed mainly in darkness which served the mood well; her brand of dark and experimental pop seems to be live in the shadows. Not to say that it plays on negative energy…when her baritone hits it feels absolutely triumphant.

Finally Deerhunter hit the stage. In addition to pulling songs from their most recent albums, they also debuted a new song from their upcoming Cate Le Bon produced album. As far as indie-rock goes there aren’t many bands with as strong a catalog as theirs; they’ve been consistently great from their beginnings in punk and noise scenes to the accomplished pop songwriters they are today. The crowd enthusiastically nodded their heads or closed their eyes and let the trippy beautiful melodies envelop them.