Deer Tick with Atherton 09.29.09

Fresh paint wafts through the halls of a very fresh new venue that has been getting a lot of attention lately. The Stateroom has quickly become one of Salt Lakes most loved venues. Perhaps it's how clean the place is, or maybe the fact that the seating there is as comfortable as a Sunday service. Needless to say the night started off right at the stateroom. Soon Atherton took the stage with a slew of great local musicians at the helm. Dylan Schorer and Scott Wiley to name a few. They started off their set playing some of their more intimate numbers, but left us heavily rocked by the end of it. Screaming harmonies, lap steel solos and mean feedback composed a most magical sound that you didn't want to end. Soon enough a group of high school kids were on stage setting up gear for Deer Tick, or at least you would have thought that if you didn't know the band. Deer Tick is a group of young bloods, but they don't play like it. They play their instruments way beyond their years, and though some of their songs are less serious, they all come packed with sincerity. You could tell throughout the night that the band loves to play. Pitchers of beer were put down and as they laughed, they played some of the best Deer Tick songs at their finest. In a way it was like watching your friends band from high school that as you watched you realized, "these cats are amazing!" Deer Tick is the kind of band where two wrongs for them do make a right and when you thought that they may at any moment fall to pieces, they would reply by suddenly surprising you with nothing short of beauty. At one point in the night, they told us that they would have to be leaving soon, for a long drive to New Mexico, but they must have played for a good hour and a half after they said that. It seemed as if they had a hard time putting their guitars down and late into the night strings of songs were tied together mixed with covers from Chuck Berry and the likes. One thing is for sure, Deer Tick rocks.