Unfortunately, before the concert began, there was a slight issue: Nothing were unable to enter Aotearoa due to visa issues. This left Erase Everything to step up and become the sole opener for Deafheaven in Tamaki Makaurau.
Opening for the night, a local Tamaki Makaurau and Otepoti band, formed by members of a few renowned local bands such as Pluto, Bleeders and Shitripper, created a frenzy of noise to begin the night. Erase Everything is one band whose performance left me slightly disappointed. Not knowing them before they started playing, I had high expectations for the opener for Deafheaven; however, I was let down, as the music, in general, was monotonous in its progression. Most songs lacked a certain drive from the instrumentals; however, Angelo Munro’s vocals were incredibly crisp, clearly showing his years of experience. Overall, they were a tight band; however, their performance was underwhelming and did not pack the punch I hoped for from veteran musicians.
Coming into Deafheaven, my only experience with them was their newest album, Lonely People With Power, which I listened to upon its release and thoroughly enjoyed. A large part of their set was their most recent album, with a Sunbather and Dream House from Sunbather, and Brought to the Water from New Bermuda. Deafheaven is known for their blackgaze and screamo styles, creating an intoxicating melancholy sound that you just can’t resist headbanging to.
Starting their set with Incidental I, the silence before the beat drop into Doberman was deafeningly quiet. Everyone was anticipating and yearning for it. For the majority of the set, a constant pit circling around in the middle of Powerstation feeds off the energy from Deafheaven’s vocalist, George Clarke.
Throughout Magnolia and Dream House’s heavy drumming and guitar parts, the band was completely in sync, not missing a single beat, and produced a cacophony that blended so well. The band’s endurance stood out to me: their transitions from background rhythm straight into shredding for ages, then doing that over and over without so much as a pause, were impressive.
George Clarke’s stage presence throughout the whole show was incredibly impressive. His theatrical hand movements were like a conductor conducting his perfect orchestra throughout the entire show. His timing with his whole band further compounded the fact that they were in sync as one unit.
During one intimate moment, George stepped down from the stage, stood on the pit divider, and was embraced and held by a wave of supporters in the crowd before returning to the stage to perform the final acts, Dream House and Winona. The crowd was energised and completely enthralled by Deafheaven’s performance. With each song hitting the mark for everyone, the crowd was screaming along with him by the end.
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