I caught The Beauvilles playing New World Brewery in February not knowing what to expect, and they were by far the strongest band we saw that evening. Vocalist Shawn Kyle's Jack White-ish delivery, and the Beauville's straightforward rock played well to the crowd at Crowbar on this night as well. These guys came out like headliners, the trio sounding huge after Sleepy Vikings' subdued set. At that moment, I remember feeling they were an ideal segue into Dead Confederate, with a grungy twist on Southern charm. The Tampa locals are currently recording an anxiously awaited new album.
I was actually more excited to see Deer Tick than Dead Confederate, as I just saw them open for Neko Case in the fall. But for several days before the show, Dead Confederate's last album, Wrecking Ball, was on repeat, the critically-adored "The Rat" echoing in my head. Unfortunately, this evening the band was plagued by sound issues. Vocals were nearly unintelligible, with drums drowning out singer/guitarist Hardy Morris' voice entirely. Even with no clarity, their aptly named ominous alt-country was very much the type of music you'd expect a Confederate zombie to pick up a guitar and play, if said zombie were so inclined. I was rather let down by the performance itself, which came off as anti-climactic after so many reviews praised their amazing live energy. Where Dead Confederate sounds dark and sinister in recordings, they sounded muddy and lethargic tonight.Their last song, however, "Smoke a Minor," was the kind of dirty, dramatically-charged rock that's supposed to fill a bar like this. Their new album, Sugar, is due out August 24.
After exploding on stage with "Spend the Night," Deer Tick's singer/songwriter John McCauley looked over the audience with a naughty gleam in his eye and inquired straightforwardly, "Are you guys ready to get into some deep shit with us?"
It was indeed that kind of evening, raucous and energetic, with McCauley and crew delivering a seemingly endless 18-song set that included many songs off their two newest albums and a handful of hand-picked covers showcasing McCauley's roughed up, raspy vocals. The new material is hardly a departure from their early material, filled with McCauley's mature-for-his-age lyrics. In this case, that's a good thing, as the songs continue to be intensely personal even as they echo the styles of McCauley's many influences.
This time around, the band was fleshed out with the addition of guitarist Ian O'Neil (formerly of Titus Andronicus), who performed his own organ-filled "Hope is Big" while McCauley took a moment to smoke a cigarette and sing backup. The jangle melody of "20 Miles" was introduced as the "our hit single off Black Dirt Sessions – actually, our only single," and it flowed seamlessly into a cover of Tom Petty's "Breakdown." The song perfectly suited to the gravelly vocals, as were several other covers that blended in with the band's original material. The set also included "Daydreaming," a single from MG&V, the band McCauley recently formed with Taylor Goldsmith (frontman of Dawes), and Matt Vasquez (frontman of Delta Spirit.)
The redneck chaos reached a high point during a cover of Chuck Berry's "Maybelline," when O'Neil jumped down into the crowd and McCauley sprayed a beer all over the front few rows of people. My only disappointment of the set was actually my favorite song, "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)." This evening's version was delivered in a slow gospelly manner with an unexpected sax solo, and created a completely different vibe than the last time I heard them play it.
At around 1:45 a.m., McCauley put on a pair of sunglasses and started into an 8-minute-long jam. At this point, nearly the entire band was openly drunk and becoming mildly self-indulgent. Of course, after four hours of music … it's entirely possible that I was just a little sleepy. I snuck out a bit before the end, apparently missing the jam dissolve into a silly-string (and Jack Daniels) fueled finale.
Setlist (most of it, at least)
Spend the Night
Baltimore Blues No. 1
Smith Hill
Hope is Big
20 Miles
Breakdown (Tom Petty Cover)
Old Shoes
Christ Jesus
Daydreaming
Dirty Dishes
Not So Dense?
Maybelline (Chuck Berry Cover)
Little White Lies?
Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)
Born at Zero
Misirlou (Dick Dale Cover/Pulp Fiction Theme Song) : Cheap Sunglasses (ZZ Top Cover)
Don't Fear the Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult Cover) : Easy
