I know it’s been a while since I last blogged. What can I say? I’ve been busy. Anyway, Erik’s not-so-subtle comment has forced me to end the drought with a nice entry about a recent concert we went to. Several months ago, when I was in my short lived circuit bending phase, I came across a guy on MySpace named Dan Deacon. The video below was posted there; it made me laugh quite hard. Recently, he has been picking up a lot of great press from his new album, Spiderman of the Rings. Pitchfork gave it a 9.1, which is kind of a big deal. We saw Dan Deacon play at the Drunken Unicorn, and it was quite amazing. But it wasn’t just Dan Deacon my friend, opening up for him were the A-to-Z’s and Videohippos. Don’t scoff, they actually weren’t bad.

First the A-to-Z’s played a mercifully short set. I say mercifully, not because they were bad, because their cutesy ironic social commentary can only carry a set so far. It was definitely funny, but irony can only do so much. Next were the videohippos. As the first part of their moniker suggests, they gave us a little video to accompany their music, it was fun. A little experimental, but mostly contrived. Ultimately redeeming was the fact that one of their videos and songs was made with Mario Paint. Geek Points++.

Finally, Dan Deacon was set to perform. And that’s not to say that we hadn’t seen him yet. As Erik and I idly waited for the first band to start, he came over and introduced himself. He humbly said, “Hi…I’m Dan.” It was kind of surreal, what was he wearing anyway, a bright green sweater? We also saw him doing stretches before the show. Dan’s set started out with a little observational humor about the Drunken Unicorn and its bass driven music next door. This is one thing I’ve seen many performers complain about, and I see where they are coming from. But once the beats started dropping, and his green strobe light skull started pulsating (yes, you read that right) it was a mad dance party. We all danced, and we all danced hard. It really did not feel like a concert. With everyone crowded around Dan Deacon’s set up of eclectic electrics, it felt like we were all partying at a friend’s house. And it was clear that Dan was no stranger to house parties. There were dance-offs, and sing-a-longs. It was silly, stupid, and amazingly fun all at once. It was one of the best shows I have been to.

Sorry if you missed it, but he will be back. Dan Deacon will be performing with Girl Talk sometime in September at MJQ. It will probably be even awesomer.