And the stadium roared, and the warriors embraced
I was complaining, in ungrateful fashion, about a lot of fancy indie-rock double-bills not playing NYC in those forms because they don't need to: the New Pornographers toured with the Walkmen but didn't come closer than Buffalo; the Mountain Goats and Bright Eyes are playing together this summer but not further than pretty far upstate. Several more of those double acts involved Titus Andronicus: they opened for Bright Eyes earlier this spring (which would, like a Mountain Goats/Bright Eyes tour, be just the incentive I'd need to actually go see Bright Eyes), and for Okkervil River after that. Imagine my surprise when I found out that actually, the Okkervil River/Titus thing was playing NYC. This finding out happened about three weeks ago. So Marisa and I got Titus/Okkervil River tickets, scored those Paul Simon tickets a week or so later, steeled ourselves for two shows in two nights, waved at Cristin and her dad in the VIP balcony, and made our way towards the front-ish for Titus.
I was afraid the crowd would be a little reserved between the drummer-less opener and the relatively folky Okkervil River, but there were apparently enough Titus Andronicus fans in the crowd because I definitely saw some pit action forming in the front left of the crowd, while the older and more bookish-looking Okkervil River fans got out of the way (but still seemed mostly pretty into it). Opening sets from Titus are a little weird because they can only really play five or six songs, and this 35 minutes or so was particularly tight:
No Future Part 3
Richard II
Titus Andronicus
A More Perfect Union
Titus Andronicus Forever
Four Score and Seven
All killer no filler!
Next came Okkervil River, who I'd never seen before. Will Sheff, the frontguy, has a reputation for a literary sensibility, somewhere on the lit-rock continuum with Craig Finn, John Darnielle, and Colin Meloy. That was also his frontman style: surprisingly energetic and intense for such a nerdy, almost owly-looking fellow. In fact, he seemed much more intense than the rest of the band, who gave off more of a competent-professional vibe. They sounded very polished but once in awhile it seemed like they got out of sync for a second or two, which actually gave the performances some welcome frays to go along with Sheff's intensity.
They played for almost exactly 90 minutes with no breaks; around 10:45, Sheff announced that they had just been told they only had fifteen minutes left so they were going to forego the encore theatrics and just push through as many songs as possible. This was a little weird, because I've been to plenty of Terminal 5 shows that went past 11. In fact, except for Bob Dylan, I'd say that most of them did, and that includes at least one weeknight show. But it was also weird because at the very very end, after a particularly amped-up and kickass run-through of "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Lost Coastlines," and "Unless It's Kicks," Sheff insisted that they had so many more songs they had wanted to play for us. I appreciate the sentiment and it sucks any time a venue cuts a band off early, especially a venue that as far as I can tell is only near car dealerships and parking garages, but I was kind of like: which songs did you skip? One of the best things about the show is that they played the exact best Okkervil River songs. Seriously, if your favorite Okkervil River song wasn't on this setlist, then you love the wrong songs of theirs, simple as that.
OK, maybe you like "Plus Ones" the best and maybe that's okay.
Otherwise, though, they straight up played their best songs, including all the best stuff from the new record. Halfway through, I thought maybe they made a setlist ordering error by placing so much good stuff at the front and not saving "John Allyn Smith Sails" for the encore, but there turned out not to be an encore and, as mentioned, those last three songs were killer (I had forgotten about "Lost Coastlines" because I had kind of forgotten about all of The Stand-Ins because apparently the band did too! "Coastlines" was the only one from that record that made it in. If they're not careful, I'm going to start thinking that they have the exact same opinion as I do about everything they're ever done). So, actually, that "all killer no filler" thing pretty much applies to this group, too:
White Shadow Waltz
A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
Black
Rider
A Girl in Port
Piratess
Wake and Be Fine
The Valley
John Allyn Smith Sails
A Stone
So Come Back, I Am Waiting
Your Past Life as a Blast
For Real
Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
Lost Coastlines
Unless It's Kicks
Now we get a weeklong furlough before the Decemberists/Best Coast show.
I was afraid the crowd would be a little reserved between the drummer-less opener and the relatively folky Okkervil River, but there were apparently enough Titus Andronicus fans in the crowd because I definitely saw some pit action forming in the front left of the crowd, while the older and more bookish-looking Okkervil River fans got out of the way (but still seemed mostly pretty into it). Opening sets from Titus are a little weird because they can only really play five or six songs, and this 35 minutes or so was particularly tight:
No Future Part 3
Richard II
Titus Andronicus
A More Perfect Union
Titus Andronicus Forever
Four Score and Seven
All killer no filler!
Next came Okkervil River, who I'd never seen before. Will Sheff, the frontguy, has a reputation for a literary sensibility, somewhere on the lit-rock continuum with Craig Finn, John Darnielle, and Colin Meloy. That was also his frontman style: surprisingly energetic and intense for such a nerdy, almost owly-looking fellow. In fact, he seemed much more intense than the rest of the band, who gave off more of a competent-professional vibe. They sounded very polished but once in awhile it seemed like they got out of sync for a second or two, which actually gave the performances some welcome frays to go along with Sheff's intensity.
They played for almost exactly 90 minutes with no breaks; around 10:45, Sheff announced that they had just been told they only had fifteen minutes left so they were going to forego the encore theatrics and just push through as many songs as possible. This was a little weird, because I've been to plenty of Terminal 5 shows that went past 11. In fact, except for Bob Dylan, I'd say that most of them did, and that includes at least one weeknight show. But it was also weird because at the very very end, after a particularly amped-up and kickass run-through of "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Lost Coastlines," and "Unless It's Kicks," Sheff insisted that they had so many more songs they had wanted to play for us. I appreciate the sentiment and it sucks any time a venue cuts a band off early, especially a venue that as far as I can tell is only near car dealerships and parking garages, but I was kind of like: which songs did you skip? One of the best things about the show is that they played the exact best Okkervil River songs. Seriously, if your favorite Okkervil River song wasn't on this setlist, then you love the wrong songs of theirs, simple as that.
OK, maybe you like "Plus Ones" the best and maybe that's okay.
Otherwise, though, they straight up played their best songs, including all the best stuff from the new record. Halfway through, I thought maybe they made a setlist ordering error by placing so much good stuff at the front and not saving "John Allyn Smith Sails" for the encore, but there turned out not to be an encore and, as mentioned, those last three songs were killer (I had forgotten about "Lost Coastlines" because I had kind of forgotten about all of The Stand-Ins because apparently the band did too! "Coastlines" was the only one from that record that made it in. If they're not careful, I'm going to start thinking that they have the exact same opinion as I do about everything they're ever done). So, actually, that "all killer no filler" thing pretty much applies to this group, too:
White Shadow Waltz
A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
Black
Rider
A Girl in Port
Piratess
Wake and Be Fine
The Valley
John Allyn Smith Sails
A Stone
So Come Back, I Am Waiting
Your Past Life as a Blast
For Real
Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
Lost Coastlines
Unless It's Kicks
Now we get a weeklong furlough before the Decemberists/Best Coast show.