Dan Deacon – 4.18.08, Old Club, Swarthmore College, PA

Dan Deacon’s Swarthmore show at Old Club was an occasion marked by flagrant disregard for societal rules. No one made me pay anything at the door and once I got inside there was more freeness in the form of beer (even if it was warm, who cares). When I had to piss I was instructed to go in the communal bush on the side of the building. Sure, I had to wait for the woman in front of me to finish popping her squat before I could go, but it is a minor complaint. The real irony is that if this had of been happening at the Sheraton Hotel, I would have been waiting for someone to stab me with a switchblade and mug me, but because it was happening at a college it was about as dangerous as romper-room.

And that’s pretty much how the show went. Totally safe, totally fun, like pure bliss. If there is a Heaven, it is gonna be Saturday Morning cartoons and Dan Deacon. Deacon was as much musician as he was a crazed electrician-maverick and one-man light show. Garbed in an ensemble that may only be described as pure color, Deacon set his gear in the center of the floor, proclaiming himself the antithesis of all that is and will ever be superstar DJ. Sure it is dance music, but it is punk-DIY-ethos at its finest.

If your child is going to have a birthday party, all I’m saying is hire this man to play it. If you do, I guarantee when Christmas rolls around, the kiddies won’t be hollering for Santa Claus, but rather for Deacon Claus.

Photos of the show are at flickr.com.