Dr. Dog + Deer Tick

Philly combo Dr. Dog has been making records for nearly a decade now, and its unabashedly joyful live shows attracted comparisons with the Muppet band from the get-go; besides frontmen Scott McMicken and Toby Leamon’s penchant for running-on-the-spot dancing, the group plays with a melodic openness to glee and melancholy that makes a beeline for the heart. And yeah, their songwriting is openly in thrall to late-era Beatles (off-kilter chord changes, dexterous basslines) and the Beach Boys’ splayed-out harmonies, but the band has really come into its own on new album Shame Shame—hence this grand headlining show. Opening is Deer Tick, in which John McCauley’s Tom Waits–level voice, coupled with Southern-tinged roots and country rollicking, makes for potent, lived-in Americana. The band's new one is The Black Dirt Sessions.