Deer Tick Avoid Boat Jail, Lay on the Covers, & Preview New Album

On Thursday, Deer Tick headlined the year's final River Rocks show at Hudson River Park's Pier 54. The weather was perfect, and the band brought with them a mix of familiar tunes, covers, and six new ones. John McCauley began the show with a solo rendition of "Not So Dense" as the sun set behind the stage. (Listen up, Williamsburg Waterfront. We want to see the stage and the water!) The band joined him for their treatment of Michael Hurley's "Be Kind to Me," the first of six covers for the evening. They then announced that the new album comes out in October. If the remaining cuts on it are anything like the ones they played, it's probably going to be their best. "Main St." was exceptionally good, a self-reflection song that McCauley introduced by saying he's going to try not to party as hard because "it got real bad there for a bit, and I want to be around to play music for all of you. I want to play more free shows." "Dirty Dishes" was another standout, most of the song being sung in five-part harmony. At some point someone yelled, "Encore!" to which McCauley responded, "Encore? We haven't even walked off the stage yet. What the fuck are you talking about?" And then laughingly added, "I guess our fans really do like to get drunk." After a fan-favorite cover of "La Bamba," there was question of whether or not there would be an encore, the looming 10:00 curfew only three minutes away. "They have a really strict curfew here, and it's enforced by the boat police. I really don't want to go to jail. I don't wanna go to boat jail." In less than a minute after leaving the stage, the band returned for a cover of Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner Blues." The show ended at 10:02, but they have tweeted in the past two days without mention of the brig.

DEER TICK – 08.11.11 – PIER 54 (1 hour, 41 minutes)

SET –

Not So Dense / Be Kind to Me / The Bump* / Easy / Choir of Angels / Baltimore Blues No. 1 / Walkin Out the Door* / Ashamed / Main Street* / Maybelline / Twenty Miles / Innocent When You Dream / Funny Word* / Christ Jesus / Little White Lies / Now It’s Your Turn* / Bastards of Young / Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin) / Dirty Dishes / Let’s All Go to the Bar* / La Bamba

ENCORE –

White Freight Liner Blues