Photo by Adam Macchia



Rave geeks and ganja-smugglers alike grooved to the instrument-derived 'electronica'/house music of The New Deal at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 1 (no fools here!). Despite torrents of rain, The New Deal drew a vivacious crowd of die-hard fans keen to gyrate for both sets at 2-hours a piece. Unlike regular ol' electronica music, The New Deal relies on Darren Shearer for the heavy-hitting beat, which, if you've ever attempted to produce an electronic-sounding beat by hand, is an impressive feat. Even more impressive was Shearer's spontaneous beat boxing ON TOP of his drumming. Keys player Jamie Shields and Bassist Dan Kurtz provided hypnotic riffs and sufficient scaling necessary to spin the crowd into a sweaty mess.

Nicole Velasco