San Francisco’s DEERHOOF performed at The Fillmore on May 17th, which was apart of the HIGHLINE FESTIVAL curated by DAVID BOWIE. DEERHOOF is John Dieterich (guitarist), Satomi Matsuzaki (bassist / vocals), and Greg Saunier (drummer). Their sound can be described as an avant-pop indie rock music with unconventional song structures, lyrics and rhythms that explodes pandemonium when you put it in your stereo. Psh! Jane, what does that mean? Okay, picture BLONDE REDHEAD meets HALF JAPANESE. You get the soft, high-pitched singing, but experimental loud rock music that makes you support a high ponytail while dancing to the beat, that’s DEERHOOF’s music. 
Matsuzaki is probably the most adorable and entertaining musician to watch on stage. She was so energetic by dancing and jumping on stage to the music of her fellow band members, while singing quirky lyrics that makes you question what is she singing? And she plays bass like a bona fide rockstar. The band sounded really tight and together, I was amazed to see how well they could pull this off (as a trio). If you listen to any of their albums, they usually bring more instruments in their songs such as horns, keyboards, additional guitars, etc. For instance, in the song "+ 81" from their latest release Friend Opportunity, the song opens with a horn intro. But live, the horn part was replaced by Dieterich’s guitar, which was unusual but sounded very similar to the album version, which amazed me. At the show, they brought a spinning rainbow pinwheel machine that lit up when the band performed. Later on that night, Saunier informed the audience that they did not control the machine, but a friend of theirs controlled it backstage.
Now remember how I said DAVID BOWIE curated the show? Well guess who was there? I’ll give you a hint I just capitalized HIS NAME! Before DEERHOOF came on, I was sipping on a $4 tiny plastic cup filled with soda (I live dangerously and spare no expenses). All of a sudden, I was bombarded with a heard of people hustling their way through the crowd, I look behind me and it was the man himself, DAVID BOWIE aka oh my GOD (GOD = David Bowie). I did not know what to do or say except to be a geeky admirer at a mere 3 feet of distance. Guess who has two thumbs and was doing imaginary cartwheels of excitement the entire night cause she stood right next to DAVID BOWIE? THIS GIRL!
Hey Jane, why the heck was DAVID BOWIE at a DEERHOOF show? Well if you remember, I said he was curating the Highline Festival. The Highline Festival is a new multidiscipline arts festival (ranging from music to comedy) to help the High Line (the elevated rail structure that runs through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hells Kitchen) space public. It is set to open hopefully in the year 2008. The Festival occurred May 9th – 19th, ranging artists such as THE ARCADE FIRE, AIR, DANIEL JOHNSTON, RICKY GERVAIS, THE SECRET MACHINES, for more information about the Festival and the charity check out www.highlinefestival.com.
Aside from my mind-exploding encounter on top of the totally moving (literally, I could not stop moving to DEERHOOF – I mean how could you not?) performance of the band, that night was the opposite of a waste of my time - it was flipping increditastic (incredible and fantastic combined). If you like off beat, silly songs with a poppy beat that won’t keep your feet from dancing, I definitely recommend DEERHOOF all around (the world). For more information on DEERHOOF, go to: deerhoof.killrockstars.com