Deakin @ Secret Project Robot, Brooklyn NY (1.15.2011)

Deakin played alongside Mirror Mirror and Black Dice at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn, NY on January 15th, 2011. Evan and I are both big fans of Black Dice and Deakin, whose solo shows we have been following through bootlegs since his first show on New Years Day 2010. We also got to see him at the New Museum in NYC in December. Despite a number of minor technical problems with his equipment at the New Museum, the show was great and left an impression on us that made us even more excited to see him this time around at Secret Project Robot. The venue itself was a really neat renovated warehouse in Williamsburg; neon crystals, blacklights, and full room video projections created a fun environment.

The opening band, Mirror Mirror, unfortunately was one of the worst bands Evan and I have ever seen live. The drummer was quite good, but aside from that, the singer had this strange obsession with this lantern and his scarf that he would constantly play with during the set. Their music was just very weird to put it plainly but attracted a group of maybe five people near the stage who would annoyingly lose it during each song.

Blurry photograph, but he's fondling the lantern...

Thankfully, Deakin played next. In the past, he would often be accompanied by the Prince Rama girls on drums or by Gang Gang Dance's Tim Dewitt fulfilling the same role but on a more electronic set up. However, tonight it was just him and his guitar. The 'guitar-only' version of 2Friends has been played before, but to have such simplified versions of Good House, Island Chase, and the new track he debuted the New Museum was a real treat. To briefly comment on the recording process, I decided to use the Low-Cut feature on the Zoom H2 to eliminate any unneeded bass during both Deakin and Black Dice's performance (which we also recorded and will be posted by Evan in a separate entry).

A fellow poster on Collected Animals spoke to Deakin after the show and apparently the decision to perform the stripped down versions of the songs was a decision he made within the last 24 hours leading up to the show. Deakin also made a number of comments throughout the set about how his voice was fucked up, how he felt out of place, and how he hoped no one was bummed out that he was playing the songs without the usual beats. Though we can't speak for anyone else who was present at the show, the both of us thought he did awesome. Perhaps the unique performance was more of a treat for those more familiar with Deakin's music, but nevertheless it is one that should be appreciated.

Download the live recording HERE (password=twosails) (Thanks to onebraineno on CA for helping with EQing!)

Full Size Photographs HERE

Set List:

1. 2Friends

2. Good House

3. Island Chase

4. Untitled 


**Note added 6.12.11: "Untitled" has been played by Animal Collective during their 2011 shows thus far and has been referred to by fans as "Change"

Island Chase