Deerhunter slayed last night at Irving Plaza. Currently on tour in support of Fading Frontier, which is out now on 4AD, the band balanced their 90-plus minute set between newer and older material. Those hoping frontman Bradford Cox would make mention of his beef with Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, as he’s done at recent shows, or embark on some other odd tangent were sadly disappointed. In fact, Cox didn’t wear any costumes and kept his stage banter to a minimum. Atlas Sound, Cox’s solo project, opened the night.

Deerhunter have generally been sticking to the same setlist during their last few outings on this tour. Last night, they launched with “Desire Lines” off Halycon Digest (2010). The song, which is written by guitarist Lockett Pundt and features Pundt on vocals, is noted to be one of Cox’s favorite Deerhunter tracks. Other highlights included “Living My Life”, “All the Same”, and a spellbinding extended version of “Nothing Ever Happened”. The encore was accented by older favorites “Agoraphobia”, and the evening’s closer “Fluorescent Grey”. Notably missing was the track they leaked when they announced the new album, “Snakeskin”. It seems they have only played it live on rare occasions.

Delivering on-point musicianship, we highly recommend catching Cox and his crew this go around. Fading Frontier is undoubtedly one of the best albums of 2015, and whatever wrinkles they ran into earlier in the tour have been more than ironed out. They play Warsaw in Brooklyn tonight. For remaining tour dates, as well as photos and the set list from last night, see below.

Deerhunter

Set List – Irving Plaza, New York, 12/8/2015
Desire Lines
Breaker
Duplex Planet
Revival
Don’t Cry
Living My Life
Rainwater Cassette Exchange
All the Same
Take Care
Nothing Ever Happened

Encore:
Ad Astra
Cover Me (Slowly)
Agoraphobia
Helicopter
Fluorescent Grey

Deerhunter Fading Frontier Tour Dates
12/09 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw*
12/10 Boston, MA – Royale*
12/12 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre*
12/13 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall*
12/14 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue*
12/15 Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre*
12/17 Columbus, OH – Skully’s*
01/08 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
01/09 Athens, GA – Georgia Theater
*Atlas Sound opening