Providence rockers Deer Tick opened for Jenny Lewis at the House of Blues last week, capturing the crowd’s attention from the start by testing their mics with “Happy Birthday” and the “Dan Man” song from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They band aired well with Lewis’ act, capturing an intensity and rawness that set the tone perfectly for sometime Rilo Kiley frontwoman Lewis.
Deer Tick lead singer John J. McCauley could claim parentage from Jeff Foxworthy with his ‘stache + side burns or from Kurt Cobain owing to his lank and raspy pipes. The whole ensemble played a high-energy set and kept it fun, with drummer Dennis Ryan smiling throughout, and bassist Chris D. Ryan dancing and shaking his Anakin Skywalker tail. Deer Tick opened with “Spend the Night” off the 2007 album War Elephant and came together in “Ashamed.” The band played the newer “Easy” with aggressive hooks and surfer-like, swinging riffs.
Other songs off the band’s latest album, Born on Flag Day (described as “one of the best records ever” by McCauley), included “Little White Lies” and “Friday XVII,” with Liz Eisenberg joining on vocals. Friend and songwriter Chris Paddoff also came on stage for “These Old Shoes,” a song he wrote for War Elephant. The guys also rocked out to Mellencamp’s “Authority Song” and a very brief, mumbling and hilarious rendition of DMB’s “Crash” by McCauley.
After Deer Tick wrapped up, Miss Lewis came on stage looking like a mermaid with her hip-length red hair and a black tee with Charlie Brown stripes. She danced and swung her hips to opener “See Fernando” off her second solo album Acid Tongue. Slowing things down with “The Charging Sky” and “You are What You Love,” Lewis did not lose focus or anyone’s attentions, following up with precise vocals in the funky “Pretty Bird.” Drummer Barbara Gruska and guitarist (plus occasional drummer) Danielle Haim showed off their pipes in “Trying My Best to Love You” and “Rise up with Fists!!,” while guitarist Johnathan Rice (a successful solo musician in his own right, as well as Lewis' beau) crooned the storyline in “Jack Killed Mom.” Fans rocked out especially hard to “Carpetbagger” and a cover of the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle Me with Care.”
Post and photos contributed by Cat Mooney.
Lewis quickly answered the throng’s call for more, beginning her encore with Rilo Kiley’s “Silver Lining” from Under the Blacklight. Her entire posse joined her in singing “Acid Tongue” as she strummed on an acoustic guitar, and she unveiled newbies “Just like Zeus” and “Big Wave” (with an oddly repetitive chorus like “Black Sands”). The ladies kicked ass at the end, vocally with “Born Secular”—with Jenny holding long, crying notes—and instrumentally with a drum war between Barbara and Danielle. Despite Jenny Lewis’s exit during the battle, the ending note was still about her, and the community following she and her bandsmates have created.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit