I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2025] An evening with Dawes

My wife and I first encountered Dawes in 2013 when they (inexplicably) appeared on Parenthood, a show we watched pretty regularly.  I thought they were a fictional band, but indeed they are not and had two albums out at the time.  I can’t recall at all what their plot line had to do with anything, but Dawes became something of a punchline for us.  The AV Club (who loves Dawes and the episode) jokes that the main character says the word Dawes so much it’s like he wants to be in the band.

And yet, over the years, we heard more and more songs of their that we liked.  It seemed like every new album brought at least one or two songs that we thought were really catchy.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them live until they announced that they were playing at McCarter.  I mean, a show that close to my house?  Sign me up!

So I got us tickets and wondered who the opener would be.  Well, it turned out there was no opener.  So we were given two full sets (20 songs… evidently the typical how on this tour got 17 songs, so I guess it wasn’t a huge difference (except that we got to go home earlier).

This show also happened a few months after the band announced that everyone except the two brothers: Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums) was out of the band.  I had actually wondered if they were going to play just the two of them.  But they didn’t–it was a full band, and they sounded great.

I think we were both a little surprised at what the band looked like, since I clearly never looked at them (since Parenthood).  This tour was for their new album Oh Brother, which I didn’t really know, although I did know and like the song Still Strangers Sometimes–a perfect catchy song from them.  But they started with The Game, a deep cut that I didn’t know but which I thought was quite good.

But I was really psyched when they played Living in the Future, and even though When the Tequila Runs Out is kinda goofy, it was really fun live.  Speaking of fun, this crowd was really really rowdy.  More so than the band, I’d say,  I had no idea that Dawes had such a devoted fan base (one guy was overheard saying he’d seen them a dozen or so times).

And the crowd went nuts for songs that I didn’t know.  I knew a few songs from Good Luck with Whatever, but I didn’t know Me Especially or Didn’t Fix Me.  Nor did I know Right on Time from the album All Your Favorite Bands (which I think we owned).

But that was just a few songs I didn’t know before they played Most People, a ubiquitous song that sounded great live.  They ended the with the mellow A Little Bit of Everything and then finished up the set with  Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax from Misadventures of a Doomscroller.  I felt like I knew the song, but it seems like an unlikely radio song–but that guitar riff was really cool.

After a little break, Tyler came out by himself and played a pretty, acoustic Moon in the Water.

I wasn’t disappointed by anything in the show except for one thing.   One of my favorite Dawes songs is When My Time Comes.  I just love the full harmonies that the band provides throughout the song.  And Tyler did it solo.  And it sounded fine (especially with the crowd providing the harmonies) but I would have loved to hear the whole band joining in on that.

Griffin came back out on (quiet) drums for Surprise, a new song with a cool winding guitar riff.  They also played Time Spent in Los Angeles, a delightful song that sounded good in this reduced format.

Then the rest of the band came out to play Picture of a Man.  For some reason I was sure I knew that album Good Luck With Whatever (the pandemic album) but I guess I don’t know it at all.  They followed with one final song from the new album (for a tour celebrating the new album, they only played 4 songs from it–which was fine with me).

They played Crack the Case, which I didn’t know.  But every time I though that they weren’t going to play anything else I knew, they followed with a familiar song, like Things Happen, the “let’s raise a glass” song that was on the radio all the time.

When they started Peace in the Valley, from their first album, the crowd went berserk.  There was a guy near us who nearly jumped out of his seat and clapped for this deep cut.

They ended the show with All Your Favorite Bands, a sweet song that works really well as a final song of the night.

So I assumed that for our show, since it was an Evening With, that our setlist would be like the other shows, but with even more songs thrown in.  But I see that Dawes doesn’t play the same set every night–which is awesome and also somewhat surprising since the band is made up of touring members who presumably have to learn the whole catalog of nine albums.  Indeed, when I look at the set they played in NYC, they played eleven songs that they didn’t play for us:

Mister Los Angeles, Fire Away, Roll with the Punches, Front Row Seats, Still Feel Like a Kid, Somewhere Along the Way, Never Gonna Say Goodbye, Enough Already, From a Window Seat, Feed the Fire, I Love LA

And in Philly they played nine songs which they didn’t play for us (and only two of those were in NYC): Front Row Seat (also at NYC) , Who Do You Think You’re Talkin To, If I Wanted Someone, King of the Never-Wills, Ghost in the Machine, Someone Will, Comes in Waves, Enough Already (also at NYC), Less Than Five Miles Away.

Overall, the show was really enjoyable.  For the most part if you like any Dawes song, you’ll probably like all of them, although I will admit that the singles are far more catchy than the nonsingles.  And I enjoyed the setlist that they played for us.  I am bummed that they didn’t play “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To” and “Roll with the Punches.”  Oh and I love From a Window Seat and Feed the Fire is really good too.  I guess I assumed that if they were playing two full sets that they’d play every song I wanted to hear by them.  But missing four songs when you got to hear a whole bunch of great songs isn’t that bad.

I’m not sure that I’d see them again, but it was a really enjoyable night.

SET ONE

1. 1. The Game !!
   2. Living in the Future ♦
   3. When the Tequila Runs Out ⊗
   4. Still Strangers Sometimes !!
   5. Me Especially $
   6. Right on Time ⊇
   7. Most People ⇔
   8. Didn’t Fix Me $
   9. A Little Bit of Everything Ø
   10. Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax ≥
       2ND SET
   11. Moon in the Water Ø (Taylor solo acoustic)
   12. When My Time Comes ∇ (Taylor solo acoustic)
   13. Surprise! !! (Taylor and Griffin)
   14. Time Spent in Los Angeles Ø (Taylor and Griffin)
   15. Picture of a Man ⊗
   16. House Parties !!
   17. Crack the Case ♦
   18. Things Happen ⊇
   19. Peace in the Valley ∇
   20. All Your Favorite Bands ⊇

!! Oh Brother (2024)
≥ Misadventures of Doomscroller (2022)
$ Good Luck With Whatever (2020)
♦ Passwords (2018)
⊗ We’re All Gonna Die (2016)
⊇ All Your Favorite Bands (2015)
⇔ Stories Don’t End (2013)
Ø Nothing Is Wrong (2011)
∇ North Hills (2009)