With a name as ridiculous as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (DEJJ) I knew we were in for a fun night when the danceable folk pop trio from Detroit landed at The Rickshaw Stop Saturday night. The crowd was beginning to fill into the club as San Francisco retro rockers the Burnt Ones took the stage and ignited toe tapping throughout the dance floor. The lead singer noticed that the crowd hadn’t yet occupied the front portion of the room. Instead of encouraging fans to move closer to the stage, he threw his body into the void and proceeded to flail and rock out on his back.

Burnt Ones

Next up we had the Austrian pop rock band EMA fronted by the cute Erika M. Anderson, who was sporting an equally cute shirt showing off a K-9. The cuteness became an afterthought as EMA kicked off their set with a cover of Danzig’s “Soul on Fire”. The rest of the set transitioned between slow pop and in your face rock, and fittingly, closed out with their song “California.”

EMA

By this point the Rickshaw was packed and eagerly waiting for DEJJ to be given the green light to take the stage. The band arrived sporting their trademark racing uniforms.  Before they played their first song, they removed their racing attire to reveal three piece business suits. It was business time as the giant J and R lights began to flash behind the stage. They busted into the soothing sounds of “Morning Thought” off of their first full-length album, It’s a Corporate World, which will be available tomorrow, Tuesday June 7.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

DEJJ brought some serious harmonies to the stage with songs such as “Simple Girl” and “Vocal Chords,” reminiscent of the Fleet Foxes. During their song “Almost Lost Detroit” it was easy to hear the similarities between the raw rock sound of DEJJ and that of The Black Keys. As DEJJ are on the verge of releasing their first full-length album, it was no surprise that they threw in a couple of covers with the Beach Boys “God Only Knows” and Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love”. The show came to a close with DEJJ’s most well known song “Nothing But Our Love”, which required one final run for the bubble machine. Since this was already the third appearance for DEJJ in San Francisco in 2011, it is safe to say that they will be back before 2012. Stay connected with DEJJ on Facebook and Twitter.