Okkervil River Live
< author: james >
Scene: Andy Rantanan and James, in Relative Theory Records a little over a year ago:
A: Yeah, I’ve been listening to a lot of this band lately (points to an Okkervil River Album )
J: I haven’t heard of them, what’s it like?
A: Uhh…well do you like Bright Eyes?
J: Yeah, they’re okay.
A: Well I don’t. So think if Bright Eyes were smarter, better musicians, and actually good.
End Scene
One year later, having loved the band all three hundred and sixty five of those days, I got to see Okkervil River, and I must say this band drives the fans crazy. Read on and see what everyone (ages 16 to 36) was screaming for last Sunday.
Okay, first things first, can someone tell me when this band blew up without my knowing? They played two sold out nights in a row at the Bowery (with a good number of fans attending both nights, who does that?), and almost every single person there was going flipping nuts. It’s not that I don’t think they’re worth getting excited for, but apparently I underestimated the audience appeal of this Austin alt/country outfit. From the moment O.R. walked onstage it was clear they had some high expectations to meet.
I have to sincerely tip my hat to these gentlemen for a few things. Firstly, even though they have really achieved a breakout with the recent release Black Sheep Boy, their set-list was very evenly comprised of songs from all four of their albums, not relying on new crowd-pleasers to make the show. In fact, only 5 of the 14 songs were from that album, and while it’s the record I’m most familiar with it was still nice to see a band that holds onto its discography instead of constantly dismissing the old. Secondly, from what I heard around me, the set-list Sunday was almost entirely different from the night previous. And more than anything, I have to say that this band was on their A-game every step of the way. All five members were completely present, usually all singing along to Will Sheff’s literary lyrics (even the ones without mics), as engaged in the experience of the concert as the people going insane in the front row. If he hadn’t been behind the set, I would have assumed the drummer to be Will’s number one fan. They were incredibly tight, emotionally invested in the music and kept an upbeat correspondence with the audience the entire time.
The highlight song for me was “Another Radio Song,” not only because it’s my favorite O.R. song but because the whole band collectively had the most energy here, the most serious emotional involvement and all instruments and sound came together perfectly to give us a live rendition that matched and even surpassed the beautiful poetic nature of the recording. I would have been perfectly happy if the show had ended there, and in fact I’d say my biggest complaint about the show was its length (with the encore it ran almost up to 2 hours and I can’t say I consider Okkervil River a two hour band). But the rest of the crowd was all for it, and it was clear by the end of the evening that for all the expectations the River had to meet, the crowd was in no way disappointed. I could have done with a shorter set, but the people have their demands. Apparently this band is exploding.
Okkervil River Set-list (with a few songs missing, sorry):
It Ends With A Fall | MP3 |
Lady Liberty
Kathy Keller
Black | MP3 |
The Velocity of Saul at the Time of his Conversion
Song of Our So-Called Friend
Pictures of Adolf Again (Bill Fay Cover)
Red
New Song: “Movie”
The President’s Dead
All the Latest Toughs
Black Sheep Boy
For Real | MP3 |
Another Radio Song
Encore:
New Song: “Let Fall”
Okkervil River Song