Providence bluesy folk-rockers Deer Tick experienced a literal whirlwind tour in 2011 while promoting their fourth studio album Divine Providence. Before performing in the Midwest, Deer Tick played a run of eight dates on the east coast—and boy, did they get more than they bargained for. The band crossed paths with Hurricane Irene and they experienced power outages and cancelled shows as they found themselves in the path of the storm.
They woke up one morning to the roar of the storm, but the following day, they played a show in Charlotte, Vt., so impeccably transcendent that you just have to watch it to understand. Their infectious energy of the grandiose setting put all the bandmates on the same powerful, unspeakable musical wavelength. Deer Tick performed that night at the Old Lantern alongside White Rabbits, Guards and We Are Augustines, and they played what they described as “one of those shows that you couldn’t possibly dream of.”
Read the band’s account of their magical show that night:
Our final Barnstormer tour of 2011 got ambitious. We took it out of the Midwest for the first time and began the run of eight dates on the east coast. Little did we know that Hurricane Irene wanted to pay a visit. The tour was originally supposed to be nine days, but Irene hit the area we were going right at the worst possible time. We played the first show in Maine, just across the New Hampshire border to a receptive crowd, though the night was full of oddities that we couldn’t wait to never think about or have to deal with again. We performed in a Dance Hall there after some last minute shuffling. Doug Paisley, We Are Augustines, Deer Tick and Guards all performed, but the night was soured with strange power outages and menacing cops that caused a shut down of the show before White Rabbits could play. We were all steamed, and this was the day that we got the call that our show the following night at the Brooklyn Bowl was canceled because that part of the city was located in a mandatory evacuation zone. We were riding low at this point, but we drove on to Burlington, Vermont, on a beautiful day. We slept there and awoke in the morning to Irene ripping the city and—we would learn the following day—the state a new one. In the teeth of the hurricane we had one of those shows that you couldn’t possibly dream of. It was magic. Huge crowd, beautiful barn called the Old Lantern, bending trees, unbelievable wind and rain and the bands all killing it. Paisley got trapped in New Hampshire and didn’t make the show, so it was a four-band bill of White Rabbits, Guards, We Are Augustines and Deer Tick. Watch these videos for the shenanigans. It’s the only thing we can tell you.
Watch the band perform “The Bump” and “Main Street” live from that night at the Old Lantern below and read Paste’s review of Divine Providence here.