Deer Tick

Despite the fact that it was the fourth of July, a mass of folks descended upon Spaceland Saturday night to see Deer Tick make their triumphant return to Los Angeles after a missed Troubadour show last year due to a broken down van. The crowd was ready and willin’ to welcome the boys back and I bet that not one of the audience members regretted picking this show over yet another fireworks display. Deer Tick played a marathon set of tunes off of their first and second records, as well as a number of finely chosen covers like “Sleepwalking”, “La Bamba”, “Breakdown” and “Bad to The Bone”. This was also the first time that I’ve ever seen the audience buy a band not one, but three(!!) separate rounds of shots (+ a whiskey/soda mixed drink). Three rounds! Maybe it’s just me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the audience kinda liked ‘em. It was also the first time that I’ve ever seen crowd surfing at Spaceland, successfully executed by lead singer John McCauley III.

Dawes with Deer Tick’s John McCauley III

Dawes played a solid opening set and it was a nice moment when Deer Tick’s McCauley came out and joined the band on “When My Times Comes.” I was also very pleasantly surprised by the first band to take the stage, Seattle-based group the Moondoggies. They had a hand in the whole Allman Brothers/The Band type vibe and I only wish that more people had arrived earlier in the evening to catch them. I think they definitely would have won over a majority of the Tick Heads (yes, that is what Deer Tick fans are called) , as they did me, within the first 10 seconds of their set. Thanks to Spaceland and Filter for inviting me to co-present the show. As always, it was an honor to be involved in such an amazing evening of music. Check out more pics from the evening, taken by India Brookover, after the jump.

Moondoggies

Moondoggies

Moondoggies

Moondoggies

Dawes

Dawes

Dawes

Dawes

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick with Liz Isenberg

Deer Tick with Liz Isenberg

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick