I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 1, 2026] The Afghan Whigs

I hadn’t really thought about seeing The Afghan Whigs.  I liked a few of their early albums, but hadn’t really thought about them much at all once they got back together in 2011.  Two of my friends had raved about the band live, though, so when they announced this show and that it was a 40th anniversary tour (instead of a new album tour) I grabbed a ticket right away.

Upon entering the venue, a sign said that the Whigs and Mercury Rev would like us to enjoy the show with out eyes, not with our phones.  Now, I like to take some pictures and I like to grab clips of songs here and there, but I try to be very considerate in my camera usage.  I never hold mine above my head.  So I was on board with this request–it didn’t forbid some photos but it didn’t want a lot.  And for the most part the audience around me was good–but it seemed like Greg Dulli was getting annoyed by some of the people up front who were filming a lot of the show.

I didn’t really know what to expect from the show.  I didn’t think they’d do anything fancy, and they didn’t.  I also had the idea that Greg Dulli had a devoted fanbase of women of a certain age.  He does and they were there in force and they were loud!  And it was a great show.  Sure the ladies screamed a lot but it was in good fun and Dulli seemed to enjoy it.  At one point he winked at someone in the front row and tossed her a pick.

I had listened to some of the newer albums, and, basically, they all have the same tone and vibe, which I like and that meant that any song they played would sound good.  And they did.  I didn’t know most of the songs in the set very well, but the band was great, Dulli sounded great and I have a really good time.  They only played one song from their most recent album (which they toured not too long ago, so that makes sense.  They played the most songs from their previous two albums, but touched on their entire catalog.

I hadn’t listened to Congregation in a long time, but I recognized I’m Her Slave.  It had excellent drumming from Bryan Lee Brown (Dulli said he was replacing replacing Patrick Keeler who was touring with Jack White’s band.  He also said that he’d been friends with Bryan forever and he was psyched to play with him–justifiably so.)  Another review of the show notes that the song “has a main riff in 13/8 that will fully and completely fuck you up if you’re a drummer not entirely on top of your game.”

Dulli played guitar but the leads were handled by Christopher Thorn who had a great sound and got all of the nuances of those solos right on.   Of course I was really psyched when they played What Jail is Like from Gentlemen.  But I also really liked their two new singles.  House of I is simple, but with fun drums and a noisy riff.

Over on the far side of the stage, Rick Nelson mostly played guitar, but also played keyboards and even violin (like the creepy solo on Matamoras).

After a few songs, Steve Myers came out.  I didn’t know who he was and assumed he was like a special guest, but I gather he’s in the band but only comes out for a few songs.  He brought a ton of energy and smooth dance moves and added an energy that the rest of the band didn’t have (but didn’t neeed).  He did sing co lead on Algiers which was fun, too.

Obviously I was super excited when they played Gentlemen.  The song sounded great and Dulli seemed to have a lot of fun with it, pointing at people during the you and you and you and you and me section.  And when the lyrics say turn out the light, the room went dark for a second.  It was very cool.  I had hoped they’d play Debonair as well, but hey, if I wanted to hear that, I should have seen them in the 90s, right?

The only member of the band who has been with Dulli since before the reunion is bassist John Curley who has been with the band since the get go.  Not much to say about him–he knows his stuff and was perfect.

Things slowed down a bit for Please Baby Please, and then Greg went over to the piano.  He had everybody clap and then paused and said, “wait, don’t be too white about this.”  Then he played a great version of Demon in Profile with a scorching guitar solo from Thorn.  After a couple of piano songs, Dulli came back up front for a ripping My Enemy.

The fun thing about the show is that there was almost not banter.  I normally like banter when it’s fun and the band is having a good time.  But sometimes you just need to get to it and the Whigs did just that.  There was no chatter between songs, no song intros, no filler.  Toward the end of the set, he did loosen the rules on that a bit when he talked about playing Philly over the past 40 years.  He said that they played the Khyber Pass and played Son of the South for a 20 minute jam.  They played it tonight and while it wasn’t 20 minutes, it did have a jamming section in which Dulli sang lyrics from The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues, which was fun.

They followed that with a couple more high energy songs and that was that.  No encore.  Just a solid set that I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to.

• Parked Outside œ
• I’m Her Slave ©
• Light as a Feather ♠
• What Jail Is Like ⊗
• 66 ‰ [snippet of Little Red Corvette/Prince]
• House of I §
• Oriole ♠
• Going to Town ♥
• Matamoros œ
• Gentlemen ⊗
• Algiers œ
• Catch a Colt ψ
• Somethin’ Hot ‰
• Please, Baby, Please ψ
• Demon in Profile ♠
• I am Fire œ
• My Enemy ♥
• Son of the South ⇑ [snippet of Roadhouse Blues/The Doors]
• Duvateen §
• Summer’s Kiss ♥
• Into the Floor ♠ [+ Miles Iz Ded (Slight Return)] ♠

§ single (2026)
ψ How Do You Burn (2022)
♠ In Spades (2017)
œ Do the Beast (2014)
‰ 1965 (1998)
♥ Black Love (1996)
⊗ Gentlemen (1993)
© Congregation (1992)
⇑ Up In It (1990)