Deer Tick‘s John McCauley ended his band’s opening set Friday Night at the Vogue by setting his pubic hair on fire. So it was that kind of unhinged night, but it was a defiantly unhinged one, in which the ROCK higher powers congealed in a massive, swelling catharsis of guitar fury. With headliners The Hold Steady, the two delivered my favorite show of the year.
Back to Deer Tick. Last night was my third time seeing the Rhode Island band but the first in which it all clicked. I don’t know if they were tighter, the songs were crisper, or I was more in tune with their brand of dirtbag pop. Probably a mixture of all three — plus the uniqueness of watching an artist singe his crotch fuzz. Whatever the formula, it worked, and now I’m going back and reassessing their catalog to figure out what I’ve missed.
As for the Hold Steady, they were relentless. From the opening chords of I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You off newest record Teeth Dreams, lead singer Craig Finn stalked the stage, barking the lyrics in his trademark style. Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge matched his intensity with their dueling guitars. The atmosphere crackled.
The last time the Hold Steady came through town is barely a memory — their double-bill with the Drive-By Truckers on the Rock ‘N’ Roll Means Well tour before left a much stronger impression. This one will go down as a classic. The new stuff blended well with oldies like The Swish and Adderall, along with frenetic sing-a-longs like Chips Ahoy, Your Little Hoodrat Friend, and You Can Make Him Like You. By the time the Deer Tick fellas came out during the encore to play the final three songs of the night — their Easy, followed by the Hold Steady’s Constructive Summer and Killer Parties — the bands and the audience had given all.
Aside from a sleepy drunk crippled by awkward arm movements that nearly clipped me several times, as well as his obsession with grabbing his hair, the night was perfect. I’m going to let that go and Stay Positive. It was a Massive Night.