Deerpeople plays Club 156 with indie ease

Written by Isa Jones in Entertainment, Music on Sep 19, 2011 5:53 / comments

Deerpeople kicked off the Boulder weekend with a fun, upbeat show on their first-ever CU tour date.

A few dozen CU students received an intimate show in the UMC’s Club 156. As soon as the opener finished, the band from Oklahoma jumped up on stage from the back of the club, and after quick set-up, launched into their set with little introduction.

After opening with a loud, up-tempo tune, they instantly had the crowd intrigued and set the tone for the rest of the night. Deerpeople sounds like Matt and Kim, with a similar energetic style but without the annoying vocals and a fuller sound, they find their own niche in the genre.

As the show progressed, the group kept things moving and weren’t afraid to change it up. Some songs started slowly and then gradually became more complex and fast, which showed off the band’s true musical skills.

The band also heavily relied on percussion and piano with two members consistently playing keyboard. The guitarist even played percussion almost as often as he played his guitar. But it was not a simple drums and piano show. Their guitarist and bass players were strong from first song to last, and there was even violin, flute, and organ accompanying a few of the songs.

Though Brennan Barnes rocked out as the lead singer for most of the show, the attention sometimes turned to female vocalist, Kendall Looney. Looney offered a new voice and French lyrics to a couple of poppy, whimsical songs.

The band gave their all to every song, despite their short, 10-song set. They pounded through their songs with almost no breaks, letting their music do the talking. During the second to last track, the lead singer jumped off stage, climbed over the merchandise table, and danced through the crowd, making sure the audience was enjoying themselves as much as he was.

Deerpeople has one self-titled EP available for download at bandcamp.com . Look for their next album to be released shortly.

This story has been corrected from it’s original version, with Kendall Looney initially being spelled “Kendell Looney.”

Contact CU Indpendent Breaking News Editor Isa Jones at Alexandra.i.jones@colorado.edu.

About Isa Jones

This is Isa’s second semester at the CU Independent. She was a news reporter last semester, and is now breaking news editor. She is a sophomore studying both journalism and English. She has a fear of contracting scurvy and being trapped in walk-in freezers, but that rarely interferes with her reporting. When not breaking news, Isa has been known to not do her homework and instead spend hours watching Netflix. She is a lover of movies, music, comedy, and the written word. Her goal is to never have a job that involves cubicles, “synergy” meetings, or the phrase “8 to 5”.

Tags: Boulder Music, club 156, deerpeople, Live music