Deer Tick at Brooklyn Bowl (December 28, 2014)

Deer Tick have been a band for 10 years now. That’s a whole decade folks. Damn, the years have absolutely flown on by. They have been celebrating their 10th anniversary with 6 straight shows at Brooklyn Bowl, with each night featuring a different classic album that they will cover before playing some of their own material.

I ended up going on December 28, where they bravely took on The Beatles Meet the Beatles!. They ran through the classic Beatles tracks which were done surprisingly well, pretty fateful (John McCauley took Lennon’s parts Ian O’Neil took Paul’s), if not a little Deer Tick flavoring sprinkled on top. Of course, they got a little help from their friends. Tommy Stinson of The Replacements, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and James Felice of The Felice Brothers came out and helped out the boys at some point. And that was just the beginning of the night-long celebration.

After a short intermission McCauley returned along with Goldsmith to perform as Little Brother (instead of their real group Middle Brother, which includes Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez). This was a soothing performance that allowed us to breathe, before the final onslaught of rock and roll would hit us square in the chin.

Finally the time came for Deer Tick to play their own material, but even this would be a party and celebration that featured the friends. Stinson came out to help them run through The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright.” But it was also great to hear Deer Tick play through classics like “Main Street,” where McCauley told us a little bit about his drunken mindset when he wrote the song. Soon everyone came on stage to end the night with a drunken cover of “Goodnight, Irene.”

This would be my final show of 2014, and what a way to go out that it was.

Setlist and photos posted below, of Deer Tick and opener Joe Fletcher.

Setlist:

1. I Want to Hold Your Hand (The Beatles)
2. I Saw Her Standing There (The Beatles)
3. This Boy (The Beatles)
4. It Won’t Be Long (The Beatles)
5. All I’ve Got to Do (The Beatles)
6. All My Loving (The Beatles)
7. Don’t Bother Me (The Beatles)
8. Little Child (The Beatles)
9. Till There Was You (The Beatles)
10. Hold Me Tight (The Beatles)
11. I Wanna Be Your Man (The Beatles)
12. Not a Second Time (The Beatles)

(a Little Brother):

13. Daydreaming (Middle Brother)
14. Thanks for Nothing (Middle Brother)
15. Million Dollar Bill (Middle Brother)
16. Middle Brother (Middle Brother)

(As Deer Tick):

17. Hand in My Hand
18. Hell on Earth
19. The Bump
20. Smith Hill
21. Now It’s Your Turn
22. Main Street
23.Miss K.
24. Not A Moment Too Soon (Tommy Stinson)
25. The Kids Are Alright (The Who)
26. Goodnight, Irene (Lead Belly)

Joe Fletcher: