[ATTENDED: June 1, 2017] Kevin Devine
I had heard of Kevin Devine–and his Goddamn Band–but hadn’t actually heard his music. I knew that he recently toured with Pinegrove as support–a show I wish I’d seen! But here he was solo.
Devine sang a dozen or so songs. Each one was catchy and not based on simple chord sequences. But mostly the focus was on the words. And I really liked his delivery–powerful and always spot on. It worked perfectly for a solo acoustic set but i could see it working just as well for a rocking band.
I can’t find a setlist on line, and I don’t know the names of many of his songs, so I don’t have much more to fill in here.
I recall him saying that one of the songs was the title rack of his new album Instigator. I know he also played at least one song from his band Bad Books.
The rest of the songs were well known by the audience who sang along with most of them.
I really enjoyed toward the end where during one of the songs, Devine backed away from the mic and sang his vocals at the top of his lungs. I’m not even sure if the words were audible through the speakers, but his intensity was really cool, and definitely drew me in to listen more closely.
Based on some videos I took, he sang “Daydrunk.” He played he thoughtful song “No History” which had a lot of folks singing along. And he dedicated “Another Bag of Bones “to our Clusterfuck in Chief on the day that he backed us out of the Paris accord.
The set was really good. Devine was funny and personable and I feel lucky to have seen him in this solo setting. When he comes back around the The Goddman Band I imagine the show will be very different and I’d like to see that one too.
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