Having only listened to their seminal 2013 effort Sunbather, as well as their latest offering Lonely People With Power (which admittedly blew my mind), I was a pretty soft fan of Deafheaven’s music before heading to San Fran the night of. Prior to this, my highest engagement with the band came through frontman George Clarke’s dark ambient/post-industrial side quest Alto Arc: a project I thought was highly overlooked… So with this also being my first metal show, my expectations were pretty high and wide-spanning.

Despite Aotearoa missing out on shoegaze supporters Nothing due to some visa issues, it was a sold out show. San Fran was totally packed and filled with a true variety of attendees of all ages and character. On before Deafheaven was local doomgaze act Libbianski. I only caught the last couple songs but was impressed by how much energy and noise was produced by just three members. The bass was roaring and prominent, and the audience was captured.

Soon enough, the band began their entrance, choosing to open with this confident and menacing feminine monologue asking us all if we were indeed Lonely People With Power. Each member shortly graces the space, concluding with Clarke who flurries onto the stage bustling and bursting with energy.

The front section of the crowd is ripping with just as much vigor right from the get go. It’s not hard to see the raucous movements and inconsistent positioning of heads constantly jerking. Clarke performs with so much elasticity, and has an effortless swagger to him. Just one song in and he’s already cased with sweat. He exerts himself in such an intense but purposeful manner, weaving through his band members and around the stage with conviction.

It’s stunning watching how the bandmates interact with one another too. Song three opens and George positions himself in the centre and lets out a deathly screech. As a holy white light blinds the stage, guitarist Kerry McCoy and bassist Chris Johnson stand by his side in animated positions themselves before the song explodes and the crowd leaps. At a certain point in the middle of the show, I take note of Johnson and the almost sensual manner he performs in and uses his instrument. McCoy and additional guitarist Shiv Mehra too perform with this soft yet certain authority, and even though drummer Daniel Tracy is generally obscured, his presence commands the entire night with an incredible forcefulness.

I’m sure I’m the millionth person to comment on this, but it is truly eerie how identical Clarke’s signature shrieking sounds live compared to the album recordings. The high frequency of his screams are piercing in this very singular manner, almost as if they are forcing the listener to confront something inside of them. For such an intense style of vocal performance, he never falters and somehow remains at the same vehement level the entire night. He ensures to devote himself to the people upfront, recurrently submerging his face into the bevy of hands and heads.

Clarke uses his limbs in a very particular way throughout the night too. His movements are strong, stiff, calculated; the convergence of an army corporal and a witch. He utilises his hands in an extremely expressive but authoritative temper, which feels so aligned with the core feeling that permeates the band’s music and themes.

I have been moved by Deafheaven’s songs in recorded form, I’ve come to know of them as these grand and descending exercises in deconstructing masculinity and viewing them again through turbulent means. This translates just as soaringly live, and everything that I witnessed of each member’s performances proved this. Each one of them understands the weight of their songs so deeply, but also know how to create true catharsis out of what they do by bringing an infernal and undeniable energy to these songs of hardship in a live setting. The emotional highs feel just as intense hearing them in the flesh, and yet due to the way Deafheaven dictate themselves, it somehow conjures forth an entirely euphoric and exultant experience.

Shoutout Si and Summah, for making the night that much more enthralling!

– Xavier Farrow-Francis, photos by Evie Thomson