Whartscape: July 19-20

Whartscape 2008

After four days of Whartscape, we have come to the conclusion that Dan Deacon comes from the future. Wham City itself is some kind of stargate. Dan and his crew of motley cohorts are a funky League of Justice sent here by our descendants to save humanity in a time of great peril. Just how they are going to save us remains to be seen, but we’re pretty sure it has something to do with dancing; nothing new there, that’s the oldest trick in the shaman’s book—just dance that freaking boogieman right back into his hole.

Indeed—by Sunday night there were no boogiemen to be found; apparently they couldn’t stand the onslaught of talent. And what a list it was: Ultimate Reality, The Deathset, Ecstatic Sunshine, Blood Baby, Video Hippos and Ponytail just to name a few. Describing all the stellar performances at Whartscape is beyond the scope of this introduction, but we will say this—Deacon’s set was phenomenal; the guy is some kind of goofy sorcerer. Ponytail’s performance was a shimmering fount of chaos and beauty. It was, in a word, ecstatic.—Robert Jacobs