Live reviews from 21st Anniversary Festival Day 2:
– Intro
– Wild Eyes
– In the Name Of…
– Human\
– You Left Me Nothing
– The Farthest I Can Get
– Dead Souls
In the dimly lit cavern of The Underground, DeerMX conjured a set that felt more akin to a ritual. Founding duo Adriana Falcón (vocals/guitar) and Miguel Bastida (synths/guitar) alongside newer members Alfonso Rosales (drums; aka Ponchong Kong) and Peter Enderberg (guitar; of Diamond 6 fame), delivered a performance that fused industrial electronica with punk ferocity, creating a cinematic soundscape.
The spectral “Intro” set a slow build that teased the chaos to come. “Wild Eyes” followed, setting the room ablaze with its driving pulse. But it was “In the Name Of…” that truly shifted the atmosphere. A dark, Deftones-like thrum underpinned Adriana’s breathy vocals, while Peter’s guitar added a Troy Van Leeuwen-style distortion. The bridge was layered and ominous, evoking Chelsea Wolfe’s shadowy textures.
“Human\” was a cyberpunk fever dream. It began with a low-slung rhythm reminiscent of Muse’s Hysteria but quickly veered into Nine Inch Nails territory: zapping synths, strange clicks and a wall of sound that crashed like a digital apocalypse. The lyrics “Come on and take me, come on and break me” cut through the chaos like a desperate invocation.
Then came “You Left Me Nothing”, a standout track that felt like a supernatural event. Buzzsaw guitars and spaceship synths collided in a mind-melting sonic storm. Despite the absence of a bassist, the low end was immaculate – an earthquake rumble that shook the heritage venue’s rafters. Miguel’s synths shot like lasers, and Adriana’s vocals soared, ripping through the mix. The final explosion was pure catharsis.
“The Farthest I Can Get” began with a haunting refrain offered to the audience: some sang along, some stared, but all were drawn in. The song kicked into motorik toms and revving guitars, transforming DeerMX into a fully-fledged rock outfit. Adriana’s vocals took on a Shirley Bassey-like grandeur, operatic and commanding. She leapt into the pit, preaching to the crowd as synths spun like alarms. The tempo shifted, the energy surged, and the final chorus became a communal scream. Peter’s tremolo and Miguel’s synths fused into an eviscerating climax.
They closed with “Dead Souls”, a track that encapsulated the night’s energy: driving, slinking and dark. Adriana, more punk frontwoman than ever, delivered rap-like verses with a Zack de la Rocha defiance, while the rhythm section channelled Tomahawk’s chaotic drive.
By the end, DeerMX had transformed the venue into a cathedral of noise. It was a visceral exorcism; a volcanic eruption of sound and soul, burning brightly and beautifully haunted. After nearly a decade on the scene, beginning as an electronic outfit and morphing ever darker, this DeerMX feels like a creature caught travelling through the night – now finally caught in the beam of the headlights and revealed in its full intensity.
-El Jay
UDG21｜DEER MX｜登上目的地不明的太空船
文字音符：黑暗浪潮裡的電子搖滾、像太空船駕駛儀的主控keyboard，空靈女聲是艙內指引，而領航員是兩位香港的外藉老師
Yes，UDG 21的門票也是登上太空船的許可證，因為Deer mx的表演讓人魂遊太虛。
第一次接觸DEER MX，未知接下來我會（被）登上太空，所以就從氣質猜測他們音樂風格：女主唱Adriana予人的第一印象是dark dark的，友善但寡言；側邊戴黑超的keyboard手Miguel則笑容爽朗，而他手下那設多款按鈕的主控keyboard早就在悄悄啟動飛船⋯⋯墨西哥鼓手Alfonso就散發豪邁奔放氣場，屬於觀眾會撩他傾偈那type；還有黑衫結他叔叔Peter，典型美國硬漢形象，好有型。至於對他們音樂風格的猜測，老實講當時無咩頭緒，想著不是暗黑狂濤就是熱情之巔吧，能夠同時存著這兩種可能性也是有趣。
Vocal不走健談路線，表演開始時沒有太多hyper開場白，很快就嚟料。作為上過Clockenflap大台的樂隊，they know how to get audience in，Adriana的沉厚女聲很快就令觀眾投入情緒，事前的寡言、精簡原來都用作烘托開場慢歌的氣氛。登上太空是有些步驟的，首先從慢歌進入狀態，同時讓身體慢慢適應Miguel的電子底聲，那種「we暈暈」的電子失真恰到好處，沒有蓋過人聲或太過迷幻，成功營造到一種符合歌曲情緒的空礦感。
登上太空的第二步，Adriana帶頭解放，以她的方式帶動觀眾享受工業搖滾歡愉，快節拍Rock歌配上電子音效，她厚實的聲線展現了強大的可塑性，嘶吼起來同樣有feel。Miguel更放下了手上keyboard（太空船控制器）一齊彈結他，一切都為集結大家的搖滾力量於稍後啟動飛船。這中間Adriana與攝影師有個得意互動，她近距離對勞碌走位的攝影師擺了些很dope的pose，然後攝影師還她一個飛吻（this photographer rockkkk！），這一吻填滿了啟動飛船的能量條，讓大家進到太空裡頭，在空蕩失真的琴聲與結他聲下跟隨Adriana與Miguel進行大合唱，讓太空迴蕩人類讚歌。大合唱是有節拍的幾句「hah ah．Hah ahhh～～～Hah ah！」，有種神聖感（然而歌名卻叫《DEAD SOULS》，夠衝突，nice），或許初到太空的觀眾（包括我）未適應重力，捉不準節拍感，使得Miguel笑罵觀眾「Bad～」，最終大家笑場後再次投入合唱，係兩位領航員帶領下，成功遨遊了太空一轉，至於呢敞字宙之旅中大家望到咩風景，去聽一次DEER MX live你就會知道㗎啦～
*DEER MX UDG 21演出曲目：《Intro》、《Wild Eyes》、《In the Name Of…》、《Human\》、《You Left Me Nothing》、《The Farthest I Can Get》、《Dead Souls》
*DEER MX UDG 21演出樂手：
Vox / GTR -Adriana Falcón
Synths / GTR -Miguel Bastida
Guest musicians:
Drums -Alfonso Rosales
GTR -Peter Enderberg
-劉海亮
Live review from Girls with Guitars #11
* Intro
* There’s No Future
* Wild Eyes
* In The Name Of
* Deaf
* Out Of The Mountain Of Despair
* The Farthest I Can Get
* Dead Souls
* The End of Time
Deer mx is an electo-rock outfit which has been around for a while and which has graced the stages Clockenflap as well as other festivals both home and abroad.
The set on the night was some pretty intense industrial rock, trance-inducing in places. I was pretty convinced that, playing immediately after Joya, the audience would be absolutely shell-shocked, however, Deer mx managed to get the crowd up and dancing, so definitely kudos there for their ability to include the audience as well as the infectiousness of their music.
I have been catching Deer mx since their early days, but due to the COVID meltdown I have not been seeing them live – and in this few years the changes have been astounding – the lead singer’s voice has matured into a very strong, full and confident sound, which added a nice dark
touch very appropriate for their music and subjects, which tended towards world and social issues. The addition of a drummer made their music much fuller and took it to a new level compared to their earlier shows.
All in all a very enjoyable set and I was very happy to see how they have matured… they are definitely going places.
– CJ
Live review from Electro ROCKS!
1. How I Feel
2. There’s No Future
3. Voices
4. I Want It All
5. Peter
6. Flowers (Cover)
Masks: whether you think they’re alluring or gimmicky, there’s no question that Deer was the most visually-arresting band of the night at Electro Rocks thanks to an origami Deer head worn by synths-n-beats master Miguel Bastida. He may have been the man in the mask, but it was Adriana Martinez who held the crowd’s attention with her powerful voice, which recalled Nancy Sinatra and Shirley Bassey.
The atmospheric set opened with How I Feel, a sultry, tethered trudge of Groove Armada trip-hop beats and soulful vocals. “We’re trying something new here,” said Martinez as There’s No Future broke through the soporific haze. Sinister iamamiwhoami synths looped amid crunching Massive Attack beats. The noise suddenly dulled to throbbing, Robyn-esque bass, before the beat built back up to heavy tom hits, arpeggiated melodies and fuzzy guitar noise.
Then, it was mask-off and glasses-on for Bastida as he conjured Voices. Opening to babbled speech, the song was almost witch house in its ominous undertones and metallic trap ticking. Thanks to Martinez’s retro vocals, the song developed a similar electro-meets-vintage quality as I Monster’s Daydream in Blue.
I Want It All took on a more dubstep feel, with techno percussion and squidgy bass. Above this driving, down-tempo electronica, Martinez’s Bond-theme vocals sounded unsettling and occasionally out of place. Lost in a melee of noise, the singer’s voice was barely audible at times – and it wasn’t clear whether this was a stylistic decision or a case of bad levels.
Instead of Scandi-electro crispness, Deer were more alternative-influenced, blending elements of ’90s rock music and guitar distortion with traditional DJ techniques. With its dissonant string sounds, wooden percussion, glitch effects and off-kilter beat, Peter evoked Thom Yorke’s solo work, but it sounded out of sync with Martinez’s soft wails.
Taking a different approach, Flowers began with gently-picked guitar chords and strong vocals. A punter wearing the deer mask began dancing drunkenly, and it looked like the show was over. Not quite! The intensity picked up again as trance-y Hana synths started pumping to the sound of excited cheers. When the guitar finally broke through, it created a euphoric finale.
With such a strong look and knack for atmospheric tunes, Deer has clearly put a lot of thought into the project. However, the music occasionally hinted at something darker, more ambitious, more ground-breaking, which made it hard to shake the feeling that the pair hadn’t reached their full potential. Until then, their journey will be a fascinating one to follow.
– El Jay
