Deer Tick At Brooklyn Bowl 12-31-15

Last New Year’s Eve, Deer Tick celebrated their 10th anniversary with a show at Brooklyn Bowl that included guests like Stevie Nicks.  This year, the venue was the same but, as John McCauley and Ian O’Neil explained, the emphasis was not on trying to outdo themselves but simply putting on a quality show.  If you’ve been following the adventures of this band – originally from Providence – you might remember Stevie Nicks officiated at McCauley’s wedding two years ago.  It’s been amazing to see the transformation in McCauley since the first time I met him a few years ago.  At the time he was doing a project with a side band Diamond Rugs whose joke name (interpret: dude, I am on drugs) told you a lot about where his head was.  These days, the man is clear-eyed…

The husband and father told me there is too much diaper changing going on at his place in Nashville to get any writing done at home but he and O’Neil have each penned a handful since their last album Negativity.  These songs had a place in the set – and one in the accompanying video – and will continue to evolve in 2016.

Deer Tick is celebrating their 10th anniversary with a residency at Brooklyn Bowl that began last night and stretches through New Year’s Eve.  Here’s John McCauley talking about the milestone while playing a wicked version of The Curtain solo on acoustic.

John McCauley dropped by NY1 on the release of the new Deer Tick album Negativity to talk about the record and play a couple of songs – just him and his acoustic.

Diamond Rugs hung out in NYC a bit recently for a David Letterman appearance and a gig opening last Sunday June 24th for Alabama Shakes at Central Park on Summerstage. On Tuesday, I met the Rugs at WFUV where they performed five tracks from the album and chatted with me for a spell.

These guys are way long on talent with John McCauley (who is truly a madman – that’s him and me in the pic below) of Deer Tick and Middle Brother not to mention Deervana and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos leading the charge.

Link to the WFUV interview HERE.

The following evening Aimee Mann played a tasty little session for FUV at Electric Lady Studios. She featured tracks from her forthcoming Charmer album due in September. Aimee’s singing and songwriting talent are not news. What struck me most was her sense of humor. The intimate audience in attendance was treated to bits of the Barney Miller and Rockford Files themes as well as Save Me and Little Bombs.  Listen to Aimee’s show at Electric Lady and her chat with Claudia Marshall HERE.

On Friday night I hit Hammerstein Ballroom for Tenacious D. From the the moment they walked out on stage to Ennio Morricone music to the moment the last ticker tape semen shot from the enormous penis on stage, it was entertaining.  Jack Black and Kyle Glass first hatched the D in 94 and now have three albums of material to pick and choose from on stage.  A medley of songs from The Who’s Tommy and a well-placed appropriation of the rap from Van Halen’s Everybody Wants Some supplemented tracks from the fine new Rize of the Fenix disc and old faves like Friendship, Tribute and Wonderboy. As you no doubt know, with Jack and KG – you’re talking double team supreme.

Providence’s Deer Tick led but John McCauley played a phenomenal Nirvana tribute show at the Brooklyn Bowl …

On Monday, March 7, 2011 – I caught a tasty double bill at the Rockwood Music Hall with Middle Brother & Lissie. Middle Brother, whose debut self titled album came out earlier this month, served up a rootsy, spirited set rooted in but not chained to a folk aesthetic. As their name suggests, Middle Brother is not the top priority of the musicians who comprise it. The three principles in MB have ‘day jobs’ already fronting Deer Tick, Dawes, and Delta Spirit but like a married man with a hall pass they played with a sense of freedom and abandon that was compelling and entertaining. All talented singers; they hit some striking pockets of harmony…

You’ve heard of outfielders who have ‘guns’ for arms? Lissie has a gun of a voice; Powerful pipes in that young woman!

Her bass man Lewis Tilley played drums with his feet (snare as well as bass drum) and her guitarist Eric Sullivan turned in a wicked lead on In Sleep off her debut album Catching a Tiger.