Almost every college has a fund to bring music talent to their school and to entertain the student body at large. USC’s student run radio station put on it’s annual KXSC Fest this past weekend, boasting some serious names from the indiesphere. Last year’s festival included Starfucker and Nosaj Thing (pretty awesome), and this year, Chelsea Wolfe and Dan Deacon were mashed together, making this one of the oddest/greatest bill pairings I have ever experienced.
If there was a consistent theme of any sort that Saturday night, it was that both Chelcea Wolfe and Dan Deacon are not normal humans. For example, take Chelsea Wolfe, a stunningly beautiful, black hair, pale faced Los Angeles native that plays extraordinarily dark folk music. Performing tracks from her 2011 release Apokalypsis and 2012’s Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs, Chelsea wowed the student body with her unique dissonance and foreboding tones.
Dan Deacon’s live set followed, and the experience was basically the absolute opposite of the prior. Deacon took stage – and by stage, I mean his small table with a buffet of pedals and gadgets, next to a not working light rig with a skull that lights up during different cues in his set. As weird as shit got, in typical Dan Deacon fashion, it was all about the track performances and the artist’s interactions that made this show so entertaining. Dan’s 2012 hyped release, America, has recently been one of the more talked about albums, and frankly, it is a well crafted electronic production. Deacon’s vibes were everywhere. He had students running around in a circle, high-fiving each other. He also invited everyone to download the Dan Deacon app and use it during a song, creating a crowd sourced light show, which was just brilliant. The whole experience was original and everyone, even the security guard standing next to me, was in awe.
Dan’s look is not one of a rock star or some sort of label pushed pretty face that echoes a team of writers. His look is that of his music; odd, unabashed and completely unique. I can say, for the countless shows I have been to in my short time alive, that this may have been one of the most entertaining I have ever witnessed. Please do yourselves a favor and see Dan Deacon live. Review By Brian Litwin
KXSC 
(Official)
Reviewed by b3
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