I had a bad feeling about tonight. When a band is booked to play a large venue outside their main fan base, it usually ends in disaster. The idiosyncrasies of Deerhoof’s sound, no wave rock ‘n’ roll with a harrowing simplicity both lyrically and aurally, just isn’t suited to the cavernous blood red walls of a venue like Camden’s Koko.

Their oddball setup: guitarist John Dietrich lurking at the back, drummer Greg Saunier and his tiny kit perched front right, and the miniscule Satomi Matsuzaki front left seemed forced and overly ‘kooky’. While Dietrich pored over his guitar, Saunier pounded the snare with such enthusiasm it left the beautiful voice of Matsuzaki drowned in a sea of ‘prap prap prap prap’.

The seven minute opener, a mix of tracks from albums Apple O’ and Reveille was surprisingly bold for the trio, whose tendencies to shy away publicly, add to their intrigue musically. But it somehow didn’t fit the occasion. An overwhelming need to fill the space with as much noise as possible, blending songs seamlessly into a maelstrom of gaudy, cartoonish bestiary felt beyond them.

But the gig did pay much needed homage to the sheer mass of material the band have accumulated in their ten-year existence. Featuring some of the beautifully experimental tracks from Holdy Paws and combining it with their later, more playful work. But that was precisely their downfall. Music from Friend Opportunity, their latest release, was few and far between.

For a tour originally designed to promote the album, it seemed more like a ‘Best Of’. Call it a lack of confidence, or the unfamiliarity of playing abroad, but they seemed frightened at the prospect of playing new material live.

For a band that carves beauty out of a prog-rock style setup, they should be applauded above their current left field status. Listen to any number of tracks from their catalogue and you’ll find Dietrich, Saunier and Matsuzaki constantly testing the limits of their sound. Unfortunately, the Koko gig was a test too far.