Destroyer

The beauty in Destroyer’s music translates over perfectly in a live setting. Front man Dan Bejar’s glazed over vocals give a serene sound to the performance that sucks the audience right into the show. Dan Bejar is a talented and busy musician having worked in such bands as The New Pornographers and Swan Lake, but perhaps some of his most catchy and bold writing has come from his work with Destroyer. The band’s work has encompassed various styles of music that sound like anything from glam rock to easy listening music. Dan often has a gentle touch to his live performances singing on stage like a crooner soothing the souls of the audience. The band Dan tours with is usually quite large performing on instruments you would expect a rock band to be playing, but the band also uses such instruments as trumpet, saxophone, flute, and piano to create a more orchestrated and lively sound. The saxophone incorporated into the music conveys a sound you might expect from a hit single in the 80’s or a Steely Dan album.
Although the band often plays in a soft, relaxing manner, they are also known to crank up the volume and incorporate some heavy rock and roll guitar soling. They often include vocal harmonies into their music and have the tendency to gradually build their music up with layers of unique instrumentation. Their setlist usually include songs ranging from all the band’s albums, which is sure to please both new and old fans alike.

Disappointing

Destroyer is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia fronted by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar (wikipedia)

I was so looking forward to seeing Destroyer play for the first time in Australia... the amazing lyrics, arrangements, and beautiful multi-layered instrumentation.

Unfortunately, all we got was Dan sitting on a stool strumming his guitar and singing his songs. No beat, no other instruments, no other band members.

I kept waiting for the rest of the band to come out of the shadows, or barring that, at least for some recorded accompaniment.

While I love Dan's songs, they are amazing and he's a great singer... to me, the Destroyer experience is more than just Dan and his guitar.

To me, it was like seeing *pick your favorite band* advertised... buying a ticket, telling all your friends to come, going to the gig, and *just the lead singer* coming on and singing unaccompanied without any band or any show... while yes, that's pretty cool, its not what I was expected, not what was advertised, or what I thought I was paying for.

For example, the most recent Destroyer album Ken (2017), credits a band of eleven (11) musicians...Poison Season even more (20+).. yet this Destroyer (2018) gig had only 1 musician, Dan. WTF.

While I'll still love the Destroyer albums ... I've got a whole other opinion about Dan Bejar and that is really disappointing.

You don’t necessarily need to know about the evolutionary path of the music of Daniel Bejar – the man who is, to all intents and purposes, Destroyer – to enjoy the latest incarnation of his band as a live experience, but a little background makes it all the more remarkable. Starting off mumbling erudite yet decidedly sketchy folk rock compositions in to a tape cassette recorder, moving through brilliant, heavily Pavement indebted indie rock through to bombastic Bowie like melodious muscle flexing, Bejar has most recently settled on a saxophone laden, decidedly smooth take on alternative rock that’s equal parts Leonard Cohen and Roxy Music. When delivered live, songs from his most recent full length – the staggering ‘Kaputt’ – took on a wall of sound quality that was nothing short of dazzling, but what only made him more endearing were the resulting solo acoustic shows in which the very same songs, reduced just to a man with a guitar and his rasping, deftly emotive voice, lost absolutely none of their grandeur and mystery. Though laying low in 2014, he’s promised to return in 2015 with a brand new Destroyer record, and anyone with even a passing interest in what possibilities still lie in the art of telling stories over guitars and synthesisers is implored to drop everything and attend the subsequent shows.

Singer-songwriter Dan Bejar adopted the stage pseudonym Destroyer some time ago and although it may lead to conations of thrash metal or rock, Bejar is actually a specialist in ambient electro tinged indie-rock. The Canadian has always remained true to the ideals that art is the very central driving force of the operation and each album has had a unique sonar structure and with that comes incredibly individual tours.

Appearing onstage completely unaccompanied to begin with, he does not even seem to notice the crowds as they cheer and applaud. Instead he is completely focused in a musical trance with his acoustic as he weaves a number of opening tracks before the rest of his band join him. Hazy block colour lighting floods the stage to enhance certain tracks including a pretty intense version of 'Savage Night at the Opera'. Although the album tracks sound pretty disjointed, Dan's soothing vocal and expert playing ability seem to tie the setlist together neatly before he says quick thank yous and closes on 'Libby's First Sunrise' which receives rapturous applause from the patient crowds.

If you like the music, you’ll like them live. If you like Dan, you’ll like them live. If you like artists who have perfected their craft, you’ll like them live. They play each song so very well, and Dan rambles through the words in between reprises. There is definitely a structure to their show where Dan is the front man, but he almost seems to not want that role. He ducks from the spot light each song when his speaking parts are done and gives the stage to his band. At the end of each song, he stands up and bows to the audience. It’s a very simple routine. With only a microphone, Dan puts on a good shown with his band.

On a side note, I met the two guitarists after the show, and they were a lot of fun to talk to. Bragg, lead and solo guitarist, offered to get Dan to sign my vinyl. I emphasized that it would mean a lot to me to have the whole band, and it was really nice to meet them and talk about Vancouver and the rest of their tour.

This was my first Destroyer concert and I was blown away! I had gone for press and photography for the student radio I'm a part of and I'm so glad I did.

I genuinely hadn't heard of Destroyer until about a month ago, but I was hooked from the moment I heard "It Just Doesn't Happen." This concert was definitely low energy, but in a good way! Dan and company seemed to be having a good time singing songs, playing instruments, and drinking all throughout. Dan even broke out the tambourine a few times, which was pretty awesome! I enjoyed every song the band played, especially the opening with "Crimson Tide." The live instrumentation was just as good as the official recordings, especially the trumpet.

I genuinely enjoyed this concert! If you ever get the chance to see this band live, do it!

4/5 - would see again, really chill, fun, and groovy.

Wow, where to begin.

This is my 4th Destroyer show. I wouldn't miss an opportunity to see Dan Bejar live for any reason on this planet. He is a genius. I know he would be pissed if he read this review, which he would never do. He'd find me and this review very lame and boring.

That said, my goodness what a show. He sang the hell of his songs, and the band was spot on.

Guitar player was amazingly drunk, it was awesome. He absolutely nailed the entire show, shredding.

Bejar was his usual unbelievably cool self. He was so noticeably pumped (rare) he grabbed the tambourine twice, and even smiled once!

5 stars. 10 out of 10. A++

I could have listened to several more hours and continued smiling from ear to ear.

Damn good.

This was my fourth Destroyer show and surprisingly it was the best one I can remember. I haven't really gotten into the latest album, Ken, so I wasn't really expecting much out of those songs live but knew they would play a number of them. I was pleased at how much energy the band brought to the new songs, actually. Another pleasant surprise was that he had decided to play a number of older favorites: Bay of Pigs, Song for America, Chinatown, Rubies, and Looter's Follies. That's pretty cool!

Great set of songs, mostly from the last two albums. They performed as an eight piece band. Dan Bejar's vocals were as good or better than on the album, but there wasn't much interaction with the audience, unfortunately. Anyone who wants to hear older songs would be disappointed. There were just a few songs from Rubies. Overall, good set that showed off the musicianship of their songs, but Destroyer's lack of showmanship made it feel like less of a spectacle than it should have been.

Saw acoustic set of Destroyer (solo) aka Dan Bejar at a small, intimate venue in Hamilton, Ontario. He is an amazing singer, lyricist, and musician and this really shines through in an acoustic solo performance. His voice sounded amazing! He's a quirky guy with a funny stage presence, doesn't talk too much and bows after every song. The opening act, Andre Ethier, was great as well. If you ever have a chance to see a live solo performance of Destroyer, don't pass up on it!