In what has become an annual tradition, Dr. Dog played a blistering set before a packed house at George’s Majestic last night. Spanning over an hour and a half and twenty two songs, the Philly indie pop outfit played every track off their latest LP, Shame, Shame, and half of their fantastic 2008 release, Fate, with just a handful of older songs thrown in. New tracks such as “Mirror, Mirror” and “Unbearable Why” sounded incredible live, especially with their beefed-up light show and the attentive audience. The encore spawned a few more highlights as the band covered Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart it Races” before closing the show with live staple “Fuck It.” The band has such a deep repertoire at this point in their career, I barely noticed that they avoided many of my favorite tracks from their earlier outputs Easy Beat and We All Belong.

Deer Tick opened the show and brought their brand of folk rock, likely gaining some new fans as they played material off their forthcoming LP, The Black Dirt Sessions. I’ve never been a big fan of Deer Tick’s recorded material but it’s evident that these tracks beg for the stage. On record, singer John McCauley’s voice can come off as more than a bit grating, but in a live setting it rests comfortably between the thudding bass and the pounding kick drum. Highlights of the Deer Tick set included show opener “Easy” and their new single “20 Miles.”

I’m not entirely sure how we are able to get Dr. Dog once a year in Fayetteville, but they bring the goods every time they come to town, and those responsible deserve a ton of credit.

Download:

Dr. Dog – “Heart it Races” (Architecture in Helsinki cover)

Deer Tick – “20 Miles”