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.

Quick Hits 3/4/11 (News, Concerts, Free Album Streaming)

Blake Sennett misses Donkey Lips

Rilo Kiley lead guitarist Blake Sennett (aka Pinsky from "Salute Your Shorts") has played second fiddle to Jenny Lewis for many years. After Jenny embarked on her solo career (and subsequent pairing with lover Johnathan Rice), I was crossing my fingers that Sennett would return to The Elected moniker and release a follow up to 2006's excellent Sun, Sun, Sun. Well he did it, and this week Spin posted the falsetto-rich new track here. A change of pace and a welcome back. The new album, Bury Me In My Rings, hits stores on 5/17 via Vagrant Records.

The Kills, appropriately smoking

Minneapolis clubs have been announcing a ton of high-quality gigs for the late Spring / early Summer as of late. Make sure you pick up tickets to the following before it's too late:

*The Kills w/ Cold Cave - 5/5 @ First Avenue

*Iron & Wine w/ The Head and the Heart - 6/8 @ First Avenue

*Architecture in Helsinki - 6/9 @ Varsity Theater

*Okkervil River w/ Future Islands (and maybe Titus Andronicus) - 6/12 @ First Avenue

These guys are still around?

Local dude-rock station 93X has announced plans to bring back X-Fest after a 7 year hiatus, 5/28 at Midway Stadium. The macho daylong festival will feature Godsmack, Puddle of Mudd, Black Label Society and various other bands I had no idea were still making music. I've wanted the station to bring back this festival for years now (well, I'd rather have it harken back to the Edgefest days). I think it's important for the Minneapolis area to host bigger outdoor festivals again. Given this lineup, though, I'm starting to think 93X forgot it's actually 2011. Details here.

If you're looking for some new music on the cheap (aka free), you can find new albums from the following currently available at a variety of free (and legal) streaming sites:

*Rural Alberta Advantage, Middle Brother, Beady Eye, Ron Sexsmith and more at Spinner.

*R.E.M., Wye Oak, The Mountain Goats, Kurt Vile and Alexi Murdoch at NPR First Listen.

*Elbow, DeVotchKa, Julianna Barwick and a ton more at 3VOOR12.

Middle Brother - Middle Brother (Album Review)

MIDDLE BROTHER * MIDDLE BROTHER

(Partisan Records)

Brandishing the title of "supergroup" is enough pressure for even the most seasoned group of musicians, so when the fairly young trio of John J McCauley III (Deer Tick), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Matt Vasquez (Delta Spirit) announced their debut under the Middle Brother umbrella late last year, they had to know there'd be an instant light cast on them. Encompassing three of the more talented singer-songwriters of the recent modern-Americana boom, Middle Brother's debut is pleasantly effective.

McCauley's signature raspy twang helps kick off the album, giving us the kind of not-so-subtle storytelling experience we've already heard on the individual albums from the respective bandmates. Three songs in, "Thanks For Nothing" grants us the first real taste of Goldsmith's work on the record, a contemplative bummer of a tune that highlights the gorgeous rootsy crooning of the Dawes frontman. The title track (of the album and the band) oozes with a snotty, yet lovable vibe which will undoubtedly be a live highlight when the sum and their parts arrive at First Avenue for a March 14th showcase.

While we've been pitched a Middle Brother album, it's hard to deny that at times, it feels like the first half is the McCauley/Deer Tick show, with the influence of Dawes & Delta Spirit on the back burner. I can't help but think we've been shorted some of Goldsmith's booming choruses and Vasquez's unique arrangements. Vasquez's first noticeable contribution to the record comes 5 songs deep, in the somewhat forgettable "Theater." Luckily for us, this low point vanishes quickly as The Mats' "Portland" is given an interesting and intriguing twist and opens up the second half of the record to be a little more collaborative. "Wilderness" slows things down, as Goldsmith settles into a cozy, introspective balance with the 60s-rock influence of "Me Me Me" that immediately follows. It's hard to tell if "Someday" is an original or a Jay & The Americans cover, but it succeeds either way. "Blood & Guts" is an expansive version of the song originally crafted by the pre-Dawes Simon Dawes, showing Goldsmith's adaptability and progression as a singer-songwriter. The album closes with "Million Dollar Bill," one last attempt to showcase all three of the frontmen at once, which ultimately (and unfortunately) gets a little clunky.

Middle Brother won't get a Monsters of Folk kind of supergroup buzz, and that's probably a good thing. Their debut sounds nothing like one; for what it's worth, these guys could've been playing together for a decade and we wouldn't have heard anything different. Like Dawes' North Hills and Deer Tick's Black Dirt Sessions, the Middle Brother debut will probably be more appreciated after hearing the tracks played live, and that consensus will be reached in two short weeks.

Grade: B+