Ice Cream Man

This is a review in three parts. I’ll snap shot them now to help try to keep things clean:

– Pepi Ginsberg, Deer Tick, and Dr. Dog at the Fonda is a great lineup and show.
– How could I not have known about the awesome Blue Palms Brew House next to the Fonda?
– There reaches a point where music gets too loud and becomes unenjoyable.

I wanted to break things down first because I wasn’t sure where to start this review. Until half way through Dr. Dog’s set the review was going to be about how I wanted to tell people about Blue Palms and their dozens of reasonably priced craft beers then mention how Dr. Dog brought a ramped up production with all their catchy songs that got people smiling and dancing. When Jeremiah and I were heading home all I could think about was how uncomfortable the show got because the second half was so loud. We talked about how we stopped seeing heads bopping around and he said the crowd looked like foam settling.

Pepi Ginsberg kicked off the night and I wanted to be sure to check out some of her tunes. She reminded me of Marnie Stern a bit. Not that her music shredded like Marnie but she was leading a few other skilled bandmates from Brooklyn, NY and the band had their own quirky niche that people were digging. I wanted to watch her whole set but snuck away after five songs to check out Blue Palms.

Earlier in the day Jeremiah and I were talking about grabbing a bite to eat in LA and he sent me the link to Blue Palms beer list. I chided him about having to drive but we agreed that two beers over 4 hours was fine for driving. They have plenty of top notch beers on their tap list and I went for a Victory Tettnanger Pils and J went for a cask-conditioned Stone Ruination which we concluded would have cost us the same as two Dos Equis inside the venue. There’s a li’l door that connects the two establishments and you can go back and forth all night, just not with fancy beers in your hand.

Once we heard, or felt, a kick drum coming from the other room we strolled next door and Jeremiah walked up to snap some shots while I hung in the back to watch Deer Tick. Ever since they played a song for us at Newport Folk Festival I’ve been wanting to see a proper set. I think it’s hard for most people to describe their music because it sounds “American,” and you can’t get too much more vague than that… unless maybe you went with “Rock” or… well, “Pop?” Anywho, they’ve got a great thing going. Their songs are rootsy yet varied enough with the two guitarist sharing lead vocals (one a bunch more than the other) and their rhythm section coming from the Muppets – Animal on drums and a kid from the audience on bass (no disrespect to either, they played their part in the band perfectly). Jeremiah shot them at the Natural History Museum a month or so ago, check that review out too.

We slipped out towards the end of the set to find the Blue Palm only half full. We got a nice table and I ordered a Ruination and J went for a bottle of Camino (Un)Real Black Lager, a collaboration between Firestone, 21st Amendment, and Stone Breweries. Again… that bottle of super yummy rare beer cost the same as a Newcastle in a twelve-ounce plastic cup?!?!? In the 40 minutes we had we were even able to order up some wings for a snack.

Similar to Deer Tick, I have been needing to see Dr. Dog perform a proper show for some time (proper = NOT a festival set). I was hovering towards the very back because I’m a bit tall and I had on super-clogs that made me even taller. Plus, I like being somewhat near the sound board where I can see and hear more of what’s going on. The first thing I noticed was how much stuff was joining them on stage. They had big round LED backlighting and the stage was flanked by those fancy swirly spot lights that look like they can shoot lasers. They even had an extra dude in the back filling in on percussion, acoustic guitar, and other instruments. Dr. Dog has definitely had enough time and played enough shows to hone their live set and it was evident from the start.

The set was a mix of songs of their two most popular albums Easy Beat from 2005 and Fate from 2008 and also tracks from their just-released debut on ANTI records, Shame, Shame. They’ve got quite a collection of songs to choose from and they know what’s going to make the crowd happy. It took a li’l bit to warm everyone up but a few songs in they dropped their white backdrop to show bunch of colorful dots right as one of their songs hit its high point. Everything was swimming along just fine and my hands left my pockets and my feet started to move. Some of the highlight tracks were “I Only Wear Blue,” “The Breeze” and the staples off Easy Beat – “The Never May Never Know”, “The Pretender” “Oh No” and “Say Something.”

As the set progressed it seemed to get louder and louder. Yes, I definitely wasn’t the youngest guy there and there might be some truth to “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” BUT… I’ve seen HUNDREDS of shows, written about many here, and I can’t think of bitching about how a show was too loud. It’d be one thing if it were Mastodon…and I would have brought ear plugs. It’s Dr Dr. Dog?!?! Yes, they rock, but there’s no need to have everything so loud that it begins to sound like one droning, muddled note. What started as a great set began to wear on me too much and when they left the stage, for what I assumed would be a break before the encore, J and I split. My head hurt all the way home and I even felt not-right this morn when I woke up.

Hopefully this won’t keep you from checking out Dr. Dog’s music (a good starting Point is the slick new album Shame, Shame) or seeing them live, especially since they have such great support for this current west coast swing. Maybe it was just the Fonda trying to show off some of their newness since renovating? I don’t know. If someone has an answer, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise I’m going to consider this case closed and stop whining.