Middle Brother

Long night, fantastic music, fantastic Venue. The band was funny, and so talented.

Honestly... too good to put into words. .. . . .. .

Quite the show indeed. Initially, I was worried that dudes were planning on performing as the Drunken Middle Brother, but I was pleasantly surprised as the show went on, they pulled it together in a serious way, for what ended up being one of the best shows I've seen in years.

After a good DeerTick set,Dawes came out and blew the place apart! Fervent, passionate lyrics and singing, some amazing guitar work by Goldsmith - a great set. Then, Middle Brother played with passion to end a great night.

Thought concert was really good until Johnny Corndog got on stage with Dawes. Not sure who this guy is, i.e. if he's associated with the band or WXPN or what, but he really brought the spirit/mood of the crowd down when he got on stage. Everyone was feeling it, the place was rocking, and he came onstage and everyone was kinda looking around like, 'who is this guy'? I ended up leaving early b/c of it.

Any of the 3 bands would have been worth the price of admission.

They played a full set list each, but I had to leave before 11pm so I only got to see half of the concert, and I was really hoping to see Middle Brother. That was pretty bummy. But I really liked Deer Tick so I'm going to start collecting their music soon.

The bands were talented, although the same people where in each band, and there wasn't enough musical variety!

This was my second time seeing Deer Tick, let's just say it was better than the first. The energy from the superhero band, Middle Brother, left me speechless. Good vibes, amazing tunes, not to mention 10x better live, & sing-a-long dancing galore. If you're ever wondering how they are live, you're making a mistake not taking the opportunity to see these fun fellows. Not to mention - total babes!

Amazing show! These guys are the best and will never disappoint.

"I'm just so happy right now"- those were the only words to come out of my mouth as I watched all the members of Deer Tick, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes jam out to their own version of a Sam Cooke classic. I feel like today's music is all about "drum machines and disco balls" (see The Limousines- Internet Killed the Video Star) and bands with crazy talent like Deer Tick are over looked because they don't wear shiny pants or brush their hair. Well I would like to personally thank John McCauley for saving rock and roll and reminding me that I can drink a case of beer five times a week and still be successful. Last nights show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was something special. Deer Tick took the stage first and as soon as they began it was clear to me exactly what it is I love about these guys- apathy. They don't care if you don't like them, they don't care if they mess up, and they don't care that bud heavies have 10 grams of carbs each! They just want to jam out, get drunk and have a good time- and they did. In between sips of beer these guys played some pretty unreal rock and roll. The imperfections in John McCauley's voice juxtaposed with face melting guitar riffs creates this fusion of awesomeness that can only be understood when experienced first hand. I can guarantee that if you never heard "Ashamed" before last night, you joined in on the "oh, oh, oh's" and you liked it. If I wasn't before last night, I can safely say that I am now a "Tick Head". I'm a little sad to say this, but I didn't really watch Dawes' set, I was busy racking up a $75 bar tab- those Williamsburg hipsters are pretty ballsy charging me six bucks for a Miller Light! I did catch the end of his performance and I was instantly mad that I decided to take shots of Jagr instead of watch these guys. I was really impressed. I have the album, but never really gave it a shot, but seeing them live (even just for a few minutes) changed my perspective. Taylor Goldsmith- you have made me a believer, I will give your album another listen. Also you have really interesting hair. Now for the main event- Middle Brother. If you've never heard of Middle Brother that's probably because their debut album only came out this week, but that did not stop them from selling out TWO back to back shows in The Big Apple. Middle brother is what I like to call "a super-group of awesomeness" (I used the word "awesomeness twice in this article, sorry!). It consists of Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit, John McCauley of Deer Tick and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. When these three took the stage I made sure to get as close as possible without getting arrested, and I'm so glad I did. Watching Middle Brother made me realize what is truly important in life- enjoying yourself. It is so obvious that they genuinely enjoy what they are doing and that enthusiasm is contagious. As I listened to them play my favorite Middle Brother song, "Blue Eyes", it dawned on me that it doesn't matter if I work a 9-5 job that I hate, or that I just spent $75 on booze, or that the L train uptown wasn't running- at that moment I was happy and they were responsible. To a lot of people this was just three dudes playing guitars and singing, but for me (and I'm hoping for them) it was one of those moments that make you realize that life is beautiful- Oh, the power of rock n' roll! If you've never listened to Middle Brother, I suggest you get on that! Same goes for Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit! All of these bands are incredibly talented and put on an amazing live show. To sum, here is a list of things I learned from last nights adventure in Williamsburg: 1) John McCauley is pretty ballsy- he wore a Red Sox shirt to a show in New York. 2) Dennis Ryan, drummer of Deer Tick, has an awesome beard. 3) Vodka-Redbull's are TWELVE DOLLARS at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. 4) It's illegal to drink on the subway (wish someone would've told me that before I bought two tall boys for the ride to Brooklyn). 5) Rock and Roll is NOT dead- Thank you Middle Brother!!!

a "super-group" to say the least. Middle Brother rocked the house. Playful choas, exceptional song crafting, and energetic stage presence... Deer Tick, Dawes, and Matt left everyone dizzy. Each separate or as parts of the whole, they were all at their best. These bands and musciians are the future of music worth listening to and absolutely worth seeing live...

An awesomesauce night of music in Brooklyn. It was basically a huge jam session since all three bands are so comfortable playing with each other. From the opening song, everybody just energized everybody else and by the time Middle Brother came out to play (about 3ish hrs into the show, although it didn't feel like that at all), the atmosphere was electric. I can't imagine anybody left there feeling let down.

This was a great show. For me personally, Deer Tick fell a little short compared to what I love about their albums (especially The Black Dirt Sessions - that is close to perfection and blows me away every time), but Dawes and Middle Brother picked up the slack and made this one of the greatest triple bills I have ever experienced. Other acts may fill up arenas, but seeing these artists in a small venue for a great price is the way to go. Can't wait to see what the future holds for all three of these acts. Keep it up.

Everything about this event from start to finish was killer! All the bands performed beyond my expectations and Middle Brother was worth the whole damn thing! If you can get out to see this show do it. It is not worth missing.

Holy Moly. Four hours of rock and roll. I always forget that when performed live, this kind of music is no longer indie folk. Deer Tick started the party with a good set, some new songs, relatively weak though, with all it's simultaneous guitar loudness. Then in various combinations, the other performers came out. Vasquez, Johnny Corndawg, Taylor Goldsmith. So Corndawg played some songs, then Dawes came out. Best show ever. Taylor hits those high notes and those guitar solos. He's serious about his sound. Then the culmination and combination of everything prior: Middle Brother. Great set. Goldsmith's solo of Wilderness was totally great. It ended with over 15 performers on the stage, including the band Phosphorescent. Frankly it was too loud to sound good, but it was energetic, and still a great ending to an amazing show.

Middle Brother lived up to my expectations! You really can't go wrong combining Dawes, Delta Spirit and Deertick.... but they were better than you can believe. Dawes especially made the show. They are such artists - they get the crowd going, they perform beautifuly and they do it all with class and professionalism. Middle Brother was incredible too - the combination of those 3 sounds makes for a great show. All-in-all 10/10!

Awesome. Taylor and Dawes put on a great show especially! Great to see them all together in such a small venue.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Some notes: --guy in deer tick was wearing a deer tick t-shirt (solid) --great up-tempo cover of "racing in the streets" --bands were pounding beers throughout --high energy the whole way