A night with a bunch of friends...

MIDDLE BROTHER, DEER TICK, DAWES w/ special guest JOHNNY CORNDAWG
3/6/11
BOWERY BALLROOM

Wow! Where do I start? WOW! WOW! WOW! Each bands gets a WOW! Each of these bands could headline and sell out this venue on their own so we should be so lucky to have all of them playing together on one night spitting out 3 1/2 hours of non stop great music. To give a little background on these bands, you have to start with the headliner, alt-country rockers MIDDLE BROTHER. To call them a supergroup may be a stretch, but this combination of three lead singers from different groups, John McCauley (DEER TICK), Taylor Goldsmith (DAWES) and Matt Vasquez (DELTA SPIRIT). They lead this tour in support of their newly released debut cd. I'll be reviewing this stellar cd in the coming days. DEER TICK are an americana rock n roll band whose live shows are similar to that of the Replacements. Rocking, sloppy and never a dull moment. DAWES, a southern California band that blends breezy harmonies that can easily taking you back to cool music of the 70's. Think Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Kind of. Not sure how Vasquez's band, DELTA SPIRIT, got shafted out of the line up and that is a shame. He arguably stole the show this night.

DAWES kicked off the night and if I'm not mistaken, it seemed like most of the crowd was there to see them. I saw these guys this past summer and they have definitely grown since then. They seem more polished and solid. Maybe because I'm more familiar with their songs now. I love it when songs and bands grow on you. These guys definitely have that quality. To really understand just how good they are as a band, the great Robbie Robertson who was the primary songwriter of THE BAND has recruited these guys to be his backing band as he tours supporting his first album in a decade. Their fantastic set became a bit of a downer as Goldsmith talked of how their van was broken into during their show the night before in Brooklyn. They had many of their personal items stolen including laptops, ipods, passports. It sucks to hear stories like that but he seemed to feel better talking about it to the crowd. Then they broke into their song beautiful song 'love is all I am' and everything seemed all right. Their set was taken to a different level when special guest JOHNNY CORNDAWG joined them onstage to perform a mini set of superior country tunes with a dash of humor. JOHNNY looks plucked right out of the 60's and 70's country music scene and his look matches the music. Their set ended with all three bands joining them on stage for a sing along of their best tune 'when my time comes' (video below from a different show):



After a very short break DEER TICK hit the stage. While they have been around much longer than DAWES and are veterans of 3 solid albums, DT have that rough around the edges feel. Their shows don't seem to have much structure and you never know what is going to come next, with MaCauley going off on hilarious tangents between songs and the band mixing in random covers thru their set. Tonight they give us classic Springsteen, Sam Cooke and an amazing Nirvana. I read recently that at South By Southwest, they even performed a set as DEERVANA, covering all Nirvana songs. They will do this again on June 19th at the Brooklyn Bowl as part of the NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL. If they ever come to your town, please go see DEER TICK and be prepared to drink and have a great fucking time. Check them out from a recent appearance on Letterman:



Not long after DEER TICK finished, the three boys of MIDDLE BROTHER his the stage and finally a chance for Vasquez to shine. He made some great cameos thru the night singing backup with the two opening bands and you could see this dude was probably having more fun than anyone. This set wasn't just about MIDDLE BROTHER, it was about everybody on stage and everybody in the venue. It is about people sharing great songs and a long a laughs. The banter between band members was top notch. McCauley even mentioned taking mushrooms between sets and Vasquez could never seem to make up his mind if he wanted to play guitar and sing or just sing. McCauley's story about falling in love with a bartender led into the beautiful 'daydreaming' to Goldsmith lonely 'wilderness' were beautiful tender moments on stage while great burners like 'me, me, me' and 'middle brother' made you just want to order more beer and sing at the top of your lungs.

This night was a classic show. I'm scared to think that this show happened on March 6th and it quite possibly could be the best show I'll see this year. You know what, I would be OK with that. This was three great bands and good friend playing collectively for almost 4 hours. Just them, their instruments, their humor and us. They played like it was a party in a basement and we were all invited. They way all live shows should be.