[ATTENDED: September 24, 2016] Band of Horses
This is our third time seeing Band of Horses in three years. Sarah and I loved their first three albums a lot, so in 2004 when XPNFest announced they were opening for Beck, we knew it was an amazing pairing. They were great and we decided we needed to see them as the headliners. The following year, they came back although this time opening for Neil Young. We were going to see Neil anyway, so it was even better that BoH was opening. But that set was shorter than the first! We needed the full experience.
One year later, the busiest weekend we’ve had in a long time, and BoH was squeezed right into the middle of it.
We love The Fillmore in Philly, it’s a great venue with really good sound (and nice parking). So it was a great place to hear the soaring vocals of Ben Bridwell.and the rest of the band.
The show was an outstanding mix of songs from four of their albums (turns out that their previous album Mirage Rock has been largely dismissed by the band and they don’t play much from it anymore). And that’s fine because the four albums are awesome. As it turns out I love these songs but really have no idea what their names are or from which album they come. And yes, some of the songs sound alike (not in a bad way) with catchy riffs, soaring vocals and lyrics that I may or may not understand. So I can’t keep track of which song is which. What makes that especially great for me is that I went through the whole concert genuinely not caring what they played because I liked it all.
In fact, it was only during the encore break when Sarah said there were two more songs she wanted to hear that I even gave any thought to what else they might play. The one song I knew I wanted to hear was “St. Augustine” because they hadn’t played it at either of our previous shows. And they did play it–but in such a radically altered version that I didn’t realize what it was until the chorus.
They opened with the opening track for the new album Why Are You Okay (I applaud them for not calling it YRUOK). Bridwell played the slide guitar (he played it a few times during the show) and sang as the rest of the band played along. I love when this song segues into “The Moon” and man, when that mellow opening turned into that rocking conclusion it was fantastic–lights, energy and much applause.
I’ve joked before how the great concert-going-curse is that the band will only play songs from their new album. Well, it wasn’t an issue because they launched into a song from their debut, “The Great Salt Lake” which sounded great. Bridwell’s voice was spot on–as it was throughout the night. And the harmonies from keyboardist/guitarist Ryan Monroe were perfect (I have no pictures of him, sadly).
The new songs fit in perfectly with the older ones, so “Casual Party” was a perfect segue between “Great Salt Lake” and “Islands on the Coast.” They played “Solemn Oath” and I couldn’t remember if it was new (it is), because that vocal line is so catchy (even if I don’t know the words) that it seems like I’ve known it for years. And then one of Sarah’s favorite songs, “Laredo.”
That’s when they played “St. Augustine” as an almost blues rocker rather than a slow ballad. In the past (but not when we saw them) it was an encore, and I wonder when they switched it to this newer, faster style. It was disconcerting hearing it this way, but fun nonetheless. Then there was the soaring “No One’s Gonna Love You” which always sounds great live.
And then they played four songs that we hadn’t heard live before.
“Our Swords” was fun because Ben and the Bill Reynolds on bass both played basses for the whole song. It was just Bridwell and Reynold and drummer Creighton Barrett playing along while the other two guys took a break. They played a few mellower almost-country songs after that.
The new “Throw My Mess” is probably their most country/folkie song. They stayed in this vein a little longer with Ryan Monroe singing lead vocals on “Older.”
And then we rocked out with a song I assumed they wouldn’t play. On the record, “In a Drawer” features J. Mascis on vocals. Now, if he came out to play it would have been pretty mind-blowing, but he wasn’t missed because the band rocked out the chorus and the audience went nuts. They returned to their debut album (a total of 6 songs from it) with “The First Song” and then back to the new album (6 songs from it, too) with “Hag.”
And then the ended with two older songs: “NW Apt.” and a soaring version of “The Funeral.” Never have so many people sung joyously to a song about a funeral.
Before the final song, he joked that they’d be playing a song and then pretending to leave and then coming back. And as soon as the band left, someone in front of us help up a ghost that said Hell Yeah. Since I forgot all of the song they hadn’t played, it didn’t occur to me until they came back from the encore break with rocking version of “Is There a Ghost” that it all made sense.
When Sarah said she was hoping to get two songs from the encore, she did get one. After the show that Sarah said she wanted to hear “Ode to LRC” and I would have loved “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands” but we’ve heard them both twice already. And having them end with “Weed Party” and a fun jam of “The General Specific” with Bridwell hitting a tambourine with a drumstick was pretty fantastic too.
The band sounding amazing, the venue was great and the whole show was dynamite.
The band was so good that they were able to help me power through two of the most annoying fans I’ve ever had the misfortune of standing near. I suppose I shouldn’t criticize how someone wants to enjoy a show. But come on. The one guys screamed really loudly throughout the show–and not at any specific time. Not because they were doing something special–he did it mid song, during quiet parts during loud parts, just any old time. And really loud too–it hurt my throat to hear him. And he was right behind me. And then there was the guy who was either really drunk or who knows what. I thought he didn’t like the band because he was singing along in a low flat, monotone that sounded for all the world like mockery. And yet he knew all the words. He even sand along to the soaring Woaah hoahs with a flat uuuuuuh. If the show wasn’t so crowded, I would have moved, but instead I had to try to block him out, which the band managed to do, for the most part. Sarah was also plagued by three girls who forced their way right in front of us about three-quarters of the way through the show and then proceeded to take pictures of themselves and then look a then through the rest of the show.
Yup, I’m a concert snob and these people sucked. But the band was so good that it didn’t matter. On the way home, I said to Sarah that that show was prefect–exactly what I wanted. And yet, ironically, I would totally see them again.
| opening for Beck 2014 | opening for Neil Young 2015 | The Fillmore, 2016 |
| For Annabelle | The First Song | Dull Times/The Moon |
| Laredo | Compliments | The Great Salt Lake |
| Powderfinger | Laredo | Casual Party |
| Factory | The Great Salt Lake | Islands on the Coast |
| Cigarettes, Wedding Bands | Is There a Ghost | Solemn Oath |
| Ode to LRC | No One’s Gonna Love You | Laredo |
| NW Apt. | Cigarettes, Wedding Bands | St. Augustine |
| The General Specific | Ode to LRC | No One’s Gonna Love You |
| No One’s Gonna Love You | The Funeral | Our Swords |
| Weed Party | Throw My Mess | |
| Is there a Ghost | Older | |
| Islands on the Coast | In a Drawer | |
| The Great Salt Lake | The First Song | |
| The Funeral | Hag | |
| NW Apt. | ||
| The Funeral | ||
| encore | ||
| Is There a Ghost | ||
| Weed Party | ||
| The General Specific | ||
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