Matthew Dear’s performance at the Vanguard in Los Angeles Friday night showcased his skills not only as an incredibly versatile musician and composer, but as the highest caliber of performer.

While Dear has become an indie darling, especially since Asa Breed was released in 2007, the show was not held at the El Rey or the Echo, but instead the vanguard, a somewhat dingy dance venue in Hollywood that is better known for it’s Funktion One Sound System and younger dance crowd than for harboring LA scenesters. However, Friday night the pitchfork followers came out as well as the dance kids, and the venue transformed into Dears Black City. Ghostly illuminated by the light beneathhis mixer, Dear attacked his instruments with precise vigor while dressed in a fitted black dress coat, white tux shirt and the classic dear curly, jelled, black tendrils, creating an aesthetic far more similar to a 18^th century piano virtuoso rather than a Detroit techno legend.

While the music does not require a charismatic performance to carry it, Dear did not sleep. He frequently stepped away from his table into the shadows, becoming an animated silhouette while playing any percussion still in hand with extreme conviction. Dear’s extremely cohesive and loosely concept based August release Black City occupied a substantial portion of the lineup, with extended versions that fully utilized the live band. Horn, Drums, Shakers, Tambourine, Bass Guitar, and even added funk riffs filled the performance with plenty to look at while adding even more texture to cling onto.  The crowd danced, got sweaty and even burst out into a sing a long  (or rather a class Dear chant along)  during “Black City”. All in all Dear delivered, and the vanguard, although an interesting choice, delivered the best sound possible and a surprisingly intimate setting that could seamlessly move into the DJ set later that evening.

Similar to his genre melting music, Dear’s performances also brings unorthodox combinations together, with dance kids, indie rock kids, adult kids and all those who fall between out to see a performer who has remained one of the best kept secrets of popular music. However, with a performance as entertaining and tight as Friday night I’m sure we will see Dear’s Black City on a larger festival stage this coming season. What an epic chant along that would be…

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