Review: The New Deal in the Carolinas

Words: Jesse Darago
Photos: Matt Speck

In March, Canadian jammers The New Deal ended an extended absence from the South with a raucous post-STS9 show at Nashwa in Asheville, NC. On August 28, they returned with their no-frills brand of electronic music to headline at the Orange Peel.

8-28-2009 - The Orange Peel - Asheville, North Carolina

Set 1: J > VL Tone, J > Ray Parker Suite II > A Little While Longer > J > Deep Sun > J > Deep Sun

Set 2: J>Technobeam, Homewrecker > Kashmir > Homewrecker > Moonscraper > J > Gone, Gone, Gone

The first of two tND sets kicked off with an introductory J (this is how tND notates their jams), driven by the synthesized magnificence that is James “Guitar” Shields. The opening J eventually led into a 10 minute version of VL Tone, which (pardon the lame pun) set the tone for the evening. The bouncing melody of VL was received well by the OP crowd, who danced and hopped right along on the moonbounce-like hardwood floors of the club.

In the brief pause after VL, which would be the only full stop of the set, drummer Darren Shearer apologized for the band’s “neglect” of “this part of the Americas”, after which they launched into the 50 minute segue spectacular, comprised of three songs, three distinct jams and a slew of could-be/might-be teases that kept the crowd on tilt for the rest of the set.

READ ON for more from The New Deal in the South…

RPSII was highlighted by a mellow lead-in J, as well as an aggressive jam within the song that may or may have not contained one of the aforementioned possible teases of a cover song.  Bassist Dan Kurtz signaled the turn into A Little While Longer with his readily identifiable bass line, giving the winded OP crowd a brief moment to catch their breath before the band whipped them back into the frenzy that had come to typify the first set.

The J that rose out of ALWL was driven primarily by Kurtz.  The 16 minute, set-closing Deep Sun>J>Deep Sun saw Shearer elicit some audience assistance in counting off the Deep Sun peak, which was not a difficult task, as the energetic crowd was responsive from the onset of the show.

After a modest set break, the trio returned with the same fire that drove the first set, beckoning the crowd back into the room with a melodic J that segued into one of the group’s heavier hitters, Technobeam.  After a somewhat extended intro, the tune launched the Orange Peel crowd right back into the same frenzy as the first set. Following Technobeam, TND eased through a relatively short rendition of Homewrecker, which jammed into a beatbox/synth charged J that quickly gave way to the one clearly distinguishable cover of the night, the Puff Daddy/Jimmy Page version of Kashmir, featuring Shearer on a rare vocal appearance.

A brief return to the Homewrecker theme began what would be the home stretch of the set, segueing into Moonscraper, which was somewhat abbreviated thanks to the looming curfew. The brief Moonscraper led into the set closer/make shift encore of Gone, Gone, Gone, which was met with perhaps the most rousing response of the night, prompting Shearer to call for one last (unassisted) audience count-in to the final pop of the song following a quick band intro and standard end-of-show banter.  With the last notes of the song still ringing throughout the venues, the house lights came up, and the night was over.

A special thanks to taper Mike Terry for a ridiculously quick turnaround, which greatly aided in the pegging down of this setlist.

8-29-2009 - The Music Farm - Charleston, SC

One Set: J>???>G-Nome, Home>J>VL Tone, Gone, Gone, Gone

The Charleston show was quite different than the headlining engagement the night before, with doors opening at 7 PM for the “Meltdown Massacre”, an indoor “festival” featuring MO Theory, Bitch Please, Ana Sia, Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, Chronicles of the Landsquid, and finally, The New Deal.  After 5+ hours of laptop whomp, TND took the stage (without the aid of laptops, loops, etc.) after midnight, and opened the show with a J, as is their standard operating procedure. This J led into what was either another J or an original tune that I just couldn’t peg. Either way, it was more than enough to have the nearly danced-out Music Farm crowd moving from note one.

The unrecognizable section led nicely into the Shearer-introduced G-Nome, marking the halfway point of the set.  After a very brief stop - a hallmark of TND shows - Home began, a tune that has been described by many as “bank robbing music”, fitting the song to a tee. The sneaky bassline provided by Kurtz and the ambient synth/organ work from Shields comprise the melody of the song, while the always rock-solid drumming from Shearer provides the backbone to the most “criminal” song in their catalog.

The J that followed quickly built up to a peak and then dropped into the second VL Tone in as many nights. This version, while not as huge as the night before - and placed differently, was a crowd pleaser and vamped the room up for the eventual set closing Gone, Gone, Gone, which retained its position from the previous night. The New Deal rode the crest of these two tunes right up until curfew, which brought an abrupt end to their set, the evening as a whole and a fantastic pair of shows.

*Note: Although there was a taper in attendance, a recording of this set has yet to surface. Consequently, my setlist may not be accurate.