Deerhunter Announce Hiatus at ATP Festival

Posted on Sep 13th 2009 6:00PM by Kim Davis
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Bradford Cox pulled double duty during day two of All Tomorrow's Parties yesterday at Kutsher's Country Resort in the Catskills, N.Y. He played a set earlier in the day as his solo project Atlas Sound, then a main-stage show with Deerhunter.

In the middle of Deerhunter's set, Cox casually announced that he and his bandmates, whom he calls his "best friends," would be taking a hiatus to "devote time to some other things," calling the show their last "for a long time."

Cox needed to, as he put it, "redeem" himself after his shaky Atlas Sound set, which at one point saw him asking if the acoustic guitar songs he was debuting sounded "like Dan Fogelberg." He also managed to soften the blow of the bad news as Deerhunter launched into a no-nonsense performance of fan favorites from their last three critically lauded albums, including raucous renditions of 'Never Stops' and 'Nothing Ever Happens,' along with mellower fare like 'Cover Me' and 'Hazel St.'

The Atlanta rockers have gone through tough times in the past, including the departure of guitarist Colin Mee in 2007 and several onstage meltdowns by Cox. They've also gone on breaks before, only to come back stronger. Here's hoping the wait isn't too long.