I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 6, 2024] Julien Baker

My wife and I saw Julien Baker open for The Decemberists back in 2017.  I had liked a few songs on her album and I was happy she opened.  Then she announced a headline tour the following year and we grabbed tickets.

We left that show unsettled and I assumed I’d never see her again.

Then she joined boygenius and I found myself enjoying her third of the trio more than the other two who I liked better before the trio formed.  My daughter became a massive fan of all three of them and Julien in particular.  

So when she announced a few shows in New York, and my daughter found resale tickets for shockingly cheap, we decided to go to the Sunday night show.  

After The Ophelias, we were all set for Julien.  We assumed we’d be getting home pretty late since she wasn’t going on until pretty late already.  And just as the show started and we had a decent view, two people on the side of us pushed in front of us and proceeded to get all handsy.  Which is just weird and distracting.  And the one person was tall and the other person moved their head around a lot basically obscuring the stage for my daughter.

So Julien came out and I was surprised how much the show rocked.  There were flashing lights, a full band (kicking drums) and a huge sound.  Remember the last time I had seen her it was just her and a guitar and for a few songs, a violin.  So this was a massive departure, and I really liked it.

Then things quieted down and she played the same two songs that she opened the really quiet 2018 show with (I didn’t remember that, but I see it is true).

While I hadn’t listened to the new album (I do find Julien rather sad), I was pleased that her newer songs rocked quite a bit more.  I enjoyed the quietude of Red Door, a gorgeous melody played with minimal backing.  

She played a few more songs from the new album and I was getting into the full band sound.  

I couldn’t focus too much on the show because my daughter was really unhappy with the situation.  And there was nothing i could do about it.  She even left our spot to look around for another place to stand and couldn’t find anything.

Julien played two songs that she had played the last time I saw her, and “Funeral Pyre” seemed especially emotional.  Particularly when she left the stage.

The band started another song–an instrumental jam that rocked and was a lot of fun.  And that went on for a really long time.  Suspiciously long. I was standing next to the person at the sound board and I could hear her talking to someone and clearly something was wrong.

And a minute or so later, Lucy Dacus came out on stage and everyone freaked the hell out because we thought we were going to get some kind of amazing duet.  But instead, Lucy said that Julien was really sick and wasn’t going to be able to finish the show.

So that was that.  We had gotten about an hour of a show but that was all we were getting.  And even though we were bummed, overall, we were okay with it.  We couldn’t see.  My daughter hated the crowd (they were remarkably chatty for a bunch of people excited to see a quiet singer) and this way we wouldn’t get home at 1AM.  As for my take, the only album I really know is Sprained Ankle and she didn’t play any songs from that record.  But I did quite like the newer stuff and I would be happy to see her again, especially if my daughter wants to go.

Having said that, Julien was pretty awesome and immediately apologized to us.  She confirmed that she was feeling better and Sunday’s show will go on as scheduled.

“Hi pals,” she wrote, “wanted to pop in to say tonight’s show at Webster Hall on October 7th with Laura Stevenson and Katie Malco is STILL ON – I’m feeling much better (and rock and roll waits for nothing)!”

But what really impressed me was that she immediately added and coordinated a (free) make-up show for Sunday night ticketholders.  The show was going to be in two night (so Tuesday) on October 8 at Brooklyn Steel. “Katie will open that one too, and there will also be a “surprise interlude by a special guest.””

The problem was, there was no way we could do Brooklyn Steel on October 8.  For a couple of reasons.  First, my wife and I already had tickets to see Kishi Bashi on that night.  And, if we didn’t, getting to Brooklyn would be a massive pain in the ass.  If we’d had the night free I would have moved heaven and earth to go, but my daughter was cool about it not happening.

The special guest on Sunday proved to be Lucy Dacus herself (not really a surprise).  Brooklyn Vegan says

Lucy played a few older songs, debuted a new song (which she said was “for the lesbians” after wishing the crowd a Happy International Lesbian Day), and had Julien join her for “Going Going Gone” and “Night Shift.”

I watched a few minutes of a video from Brooklyn Steel and OMG the people singing along were louder than Lucy.  I think I would have list my mind had we actually driven all the way to Brooklyn only to not hear the artists.

The sound lady gave me a copy of the setlist, which was really cool.  So I know what we missed:

Show ended early due to Julien’s sickness. Rest of setlist was Tokyo, Turn Out the Lights, (Solo x2), Crying Wolf, Sprained Ankle, Bloodshot, Even, Claws in Your Back, Ziptie & Everybody Does

 

2024 cut short (NYC)	2018 headliner	2017 opener
Hardline ∉	Over ♣	Funeral Pyre §
Over ♣	Appointments ♣	Sprained Ankle ‰
Appointments ♣	Turn Out the Lights♣	Everybody Does ‰
Ringside ∉	Funeral Pyre§	Rejoice ‰
Red Door ¥	Sprained Ankle ‰	Turn Out the Lights ♣
Relative Fiction ∉	Happy To Be Here ♣	Something ♣
Favor ∉	Red Door ¥
Happy To Be Here ♣	Rejoice ‰
Funeral Pyre §	Blacktop ‰
Middle Children ℵ (instrumental jam due to Julien’s sickness)	Everybody Does ‰
END OF SHOW DUE TO ILLNESS.  REST OF SETLIST:	Even ♣
Tokyo  ℵ	Sour Breath ♣
Turn Out the Lights ♣	Everything That Helps You Sleep ♣
Solo (x2)	Go Home ‰
Crying Wolf ∉	Something ♣
Sprained Ankle ‰
Bloodshot ∉
Even ♣
Claws in Your Back ♣
Ziptie ∉
Everybody Does ‰

ℵ new song (2024)
∉ Little Oblivions (2021)
¥ single (2019)
§ single (2017)
♣ from Turn Out the Lights (2017)
‰ from Sprained Ankle (2015)