Middle Brother, Dawes & Deer Tick @ First Avenue 3/14/11 (Concert Review)

Photo: Steve Cohen for City Pages

Usually when I'm watching a band (or bands) perform, I'm thinking of how I will write up the show the next day, keeping close tabs on which band played which song, and in what order. Last night, though, I kicked that thinking to the curb and just enjoyed myself and every minute of the evening. From Deer Tick's boisterous opening set (featuring a Matt Vasquez mini-set) to Dawes' expected crowd-pleasing hour (w/ a little Jonny Corndawg for good measure) to the Middle Brother bonanza that closed out the evening, First Avenue had a Saturday night style gig as a week opener. Rather than recap each of the sets, here's a list of why last night was awesome:

• Deer Tick rocked, and John McCauley looked good with a gold tooth (and somehow later, with a matching gold shirt).
• Matt Vasquez joined Deer Tick for a blistering version of Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" that featured more guitars than a Thin Lizzy tribute band.
• Wait times between sets were short and sweet, while Ludacris played overhead.
• Dawes' featured plenty of new material, including a slightly more participative version of "Fire Away" then we've heard their last few times here. I wish they would've also done the crowd participation portion of the relentless "How Far We've Come," but we can't have everything.
• Matt Vasquez commented how Dawes' bassist Wylie looks like if Jeff Goldblum sold his soul to the devil for good looks.
• Despite being seated closer to the garage than the crowd, Griffin Goldsmith still manhandled his drums expertly.
• Minneapolis loves Dawes. Dawes loves Minneapolis.
• Jonny Corndawg. Jonny Corndawg's outfit. Jonny Corndawg's beard. Jonny Corndawg's banter. Jonny Corndawg's dance moves. Jonny Corndawg.
• Dawes' go-to closer, "When My Time Comes," is one of the best live songs any band can play. Last night's version, featuring Taylor's Middle Brother brethren (and yes, a little more Jonny Corndawg) was one of the best renditions of any song I've ever heard in concert. Hands down.
• I think John McCauley drank about 16 beers, some of them with no hands, and also expertly spat Budweiser bottle caps into the crowd (before drenching the "lucky" few in front of him with an unexpected shower of malt & hops).
• Matt Vasquez broke a string on his wicked Flying V early in Middle Brother's set. Rather than getting another guitar, he changed it himself, in the spotlight.
• John McCauley played so hard he bled, and wiped it all over his face...and made fun of the Spin Doctors classic "Two Princes."
• The nerdy bassist from Deer Tick has a booming voice; the verse he sang in Middle Brother's last song got one of the biggest pops of the night.

Yeah, so the show was awesome for all of those aforementioned reasons, plus countless others that I'm probably forgetting. Were you there? Post a highlight in the comments section and let me know what I forgot...I was too busy enjoying every last second of my Monday night.