On Saturday evening, Troy, NY was treated to the wonderful sonic meanderings of Dan Deacon and Extra Life. While Deacon, who was forced to cancel a show at RPI's EMPAC a few months prior due to a case of acute sciatica, turned up for the concert this time around, his tour-mates, the Baltimore-based Nuclear Power Pants, didn't, presumably due to snowpocalypse2010. Luckily for everyone who attended, the half-contemporary-classical, half-indie-rock Extra Life was able to fill in for NPP in quite the grand fashion.

Having heard next to noting about Extra Life before their performance Saturday night, I honestly had no idea what to expect from a band whose name evoked thoughts of video games and do-overs. Thankfully, their performance left me pleasantly surprised. Instead of the poppy, electronic soundscapes I'd half-way expected to hear (Baltimore's king of experimental pop was headlining, after all), the Brooklynites began with the somber hymn-esque 'Bled White', which, after some minutes, progressed into an ominous movement of strings, keys, woodwinds, and percussion. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to make of Extra life; at its very core, the outfit's sound is of a classical nature, however, it is pervaded by math and experimental rock sounds. Put simply, this isn't the type of band that you're going to fall in love with instantly. No, if you want to enjoy the sounds of Extra Life, you're going to have to work for it.

After standing through the first two songs, wondering how to relate these guys’ music to anything else I'd heard in the last five years, it hit me. Like a little boy who'd just been rewarded with an entire candy bar for acing a difficult test, I cracked a wide grin and dug into the delicious melodies. Extra Life makes music for people who like to think about what they're hearing. You won't find any poppy, hook-filled tunes herein. You will find complex, winding songs generated by both contemporary and classical instruments. Extra Life pulled material from both their debut and upcoming records to comprise an entertaining hour-long set, which in many ways, highlighted the direction that a certain sect of independent music is bound to take in the next decade.

Next up came the man of the hour, the musician that most of us had been waiting to see live for months. Although Inyourspeakers Media covered many an event in the last year which included Dan Deacon, I personally had never had the chance to catch his performance. Quite honestly, after Saturday night, I wish I’d found the time to see him more often in the past.

Dan is one of those rare musicians who not only performs for his audience, but literally asks show-goers to perform along with him. Of course things tend to get zany (i.e. starting the show out with a “relaxation session,” followed by a countdown involving characters from The Lion King), but that’s part of the appeal in going to see a Dan Deacon show. You hear some great music, you dance (a lot), and by the end of it all, you’re left feeling like a kid after recess.

Thanks for reminding me what it was to be a kid again, Dan.

Photography by Derek Duoba