Deers
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER –
Beyond being a two-club city obsessed with football, there are few similarities between Manchester and Madrid. The weather is possibly the most glaring contrast, not that it seemed to bother Deers, who stand outside a sold-out Castle Hotel in the Northern drizzle, laughing and joking with fans 900 miles from their Spanish capital home.
Deers are in town as part of a whistle-stop tour around Europe which includes a sold-out show at The Lexington in London and a spot at the esteemed Le Guess Who? Festival in Holland. Despite the buzz surrounding them, it would be easy for everything to all fall apart onstage, especially so given that, by their own admission, the band value passion over ability.
When it comes time for the Madrileños to force their way through the heaving crowd to take to the stage it is with big smiles and sincere apologies. The four-piece take a few minutes to tune up before roaring through a ten song set of exhilarating, scuzzy pop. Steady rhythms sit beneath scratchy garage rock guitars; their playful vocals and lo-fi sensibilities create an engaging sound that is both accessible and alternative, like a bawdier Neutral Milk Hotel.
It is obviously ridiculous to suggest a band with a thousand SoundCloud plays have ‘hits’, but it is certain that the songs available to the public have captured the imagination of the crowd. Opening bars are met with cheers while the infectious hook of ‘Trippy Gum’ continues to be belted out by some revellers even after the song has finished. With much justifiable criticism levelled at modern gig goers for being too interested in their phone rather than the people on stage, this kind of dedication to a group with one single is quite remarkable.
Despite the shows raucous nature – a few seconds in a string is snapped – the band is impressively tight for one with so few shows under their belt. Great as they sound, it is the energy the girls play with that makes tonight so compelling. There is a nervous ‘are-we-really-getting-away-with-this?’ vigour on stage but the only people who think they might not be worthy the adulation is the group themselves.
Gaps between songs are filled with witty broken English patter. Constantly looking to engage with the crowd, not a moment passes without all four girls grinning to each other. Deers brim with natural charm and youthful exuberance – the kind which would make ideal viewing for an updated Monkees-style TV show.
There is clearly much to do for Deers to break out of pub backrooms and into bigger venues but who says that hard work can’t be fun? I’m not sure these girls know any other way.
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Features Editor and gig reviewer
