courtesy photos

The concert film Sunday Redux presents an interesting time capsule of the band Deerhunter. 

It was shot in April 2010 at the Bourbon Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was one of the first shows where they played songs from their Halcyon Digest album that was released later that year. They would also undergo a small lineup change for their followup album Monomania, which was released earlier this year.

Kearney native John Albrecht captured the video time capsule. Albrecht graduated the film production program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a love of concert films. In 2008, he shot his first concert of the band Holy Fuck at Omaha’s Waiting Room Lounge. Since then, he has wanted to shoot another show with "with more planning and purpose." 

He got his chance when he learned Deerhunter — a band he admits to being obsessed with — was playing the Bourbon Theatre. Once Albrecht was able to get permission to shoot the show, he gathered what equipment he could, including a dolly track, a couple of DSLR cameras and even a VHS camera that he put on a jib arm at the front of the stage.

This mix of high and low tech combined with the deliberate choice of shooting from the stage (as opposed to the normal audience point-of-view) gives Sunday Redux a different look than most concert films. The lack of wide shots and sometimes frantic editing matches the claustrophobic and manic sound that Deerhunter is known for.

Once the show was done, Albrecht finished his first cut the following summer, but it wasn't released until three years later, this June. Albrecht says the release was delayed "after a long series of back-and-forths with people involved with the band." During these long waits, he would periodically revisit Sunday Redux and make changes before finally releasing it via the video hosting site Vimeo. In retrospect, with the lineup changes and new album that was released since it was shot, Albrecht thinks it would have been better to release it that following summer.

This delay could be one reason why Albrecht never heard much from the band or their label after it was shot. He feels the lack of enthusiasm was due in part that the concert contained performances of songs recorded under their previous record label. He is not even sure if the band has seen the finished film as the only time he heard from the band is when frontman Bradford Cox encouraged him to finish the film after a trailer was posted online.

Despite the lack of official recognition from the band, Albrecht is proud of the film and proud that it was shot in Nebraska. He says Sunday Redux shows the rest of the world that Nebraska has some amazing live shows with "venues provide the kind of intimate, rare performances that you might not find in bigger city arena shows or at a festival."

While he has no further plans for the release of Sunday Redux, Albrecht hopes fans of Deerhunter will discover it online and it will "provide a new dimension to the band and a memorable experience like you’re simply at the show."

Deerhunter Sunday Redux from John Albrecht on Vimeo.

Mike Machian is a Hear Nebraska contributor who has never seen Deerhunter or The Deer Hunter but plans to see both.