The opening track was an instrumental called ‘The Cascades’ and it felt a bit like an overture readying us for the main event. Robin Pecknold is a great frontman with a voice that can go from the gentle softness to aggressive power in a heartbeat but his voice sounded a bit lost during the second track ‘Grown Ocean’. I think the sound engineer pulled his socks up because things soon balanced out and within a couple of tracks the sound was just right.
The band seemed to get tighter with each track. By the time we got to the brilliant ‘Sim Sala Bim’ and fan favourite ‘Mykonos’ the music and vocal harmonies were perfectly seamed and tuly hypnotic. ‘Your Protector’ and ‘White Winter Hymnal’ were particular highlights. The crowd was really into the show and showed their appreciation with lots of singing and cheering. One or two attention seeking knobheads got a bit vocal between tracks but that seems to be the case at most gigs these days.
The main body of the set ended with a personal favourite of mine ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’ and the crowd loudly cheered them off at the end of it. The noise continued until Pecknold reappeared on his own to perform ‘Oliver James’ and this track showed just what an amazing vocal talent he is. The rest of the band then joined him onstage to end the night with ‘Helplessness Blues’.
A top gig by a top band in a top venue.
Set list as follows:
1. The Cascades
2. Grown Ocean
3. Drops In The River
4. Battery Kinzie
5. Bedouin Dress
6. Sim Sala Bim
7. Mykonos
8. Your Protector
9. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
10. White Winter Hymnal
11. Ragged Wood
12. Lorelai
13. Montezuma
14. He Doesn't Know Why
15. The Shrine/An Argument
16. Blue Spotted Tail
17. Blue Ridge Mountains
Encore:
18. Oliver James
19. Helplessness Blues
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