Okkervil River and Matthew E White at First Avenue, Minneapolis (11/01/13)

Okkervil River Setlist

1. It Was My Season
2. On a Balcony
3. Black
4. Rider
5. Pink-Slips
6. John Allyn Smith Sails
7. Where the Spirit Left Us
8. Lido Pier Suicide Car
9. The Valley
10. No Key, No Plan
11. Kansas City
12. For Real
13. Stay Young
14. Satellite of Love (Lou Reed cover)
15. Down Down the Deep River
16. Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
17. Lost Coastlines
    — Encore —
18. Dance Hall Days (Wang Chung cover)
19. Walking Without Frankie
20. A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
21. Unless It’s Kicks

Tour Dates

Matthew E. White opened up the show, starting with "Will You Love Me" from his Big Inner album. The album was recent re-released as a double disc with Outer Face EP, which you can also purchase separately.

Most of his set 45 minute set were taken from Big Inner, including "Steady Pace" and "One of These Days", but also included a cover of Neil Young's "Are You Ready for the Country". He ended his set with "Brazos", a song about a slave couple and never crossing the Brazos River.

Speaking of rivers, Okkervil River's set was designed with a similar hand-art theme from their latest The Silver Gymnasium. I thought with the blank/white backdrop that they would project a movie, but instead, it was used to show a faint ultraviolet bridge and moonlight.

As you can see from the setlist, the first block were mostly new songs, including the first couple of songs "It Was My Season" and "On a Balcony".

Their songs, based on their lyrics and banter on stage, is quite depressing. We're talking mostly death (shooting someone in the head), and hanging (suicide). With all this dark subject, it's easy to see why they've chosen to cover Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love", a nice tribute to the musician who recently passed away. I suspect the song only made it into the set since last Sunday, but it sure sounded well-rehearsed.

Encore were another cover, this time of Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days" and one new song from The Silver Gymnasium, "Walking Without Frankie", plus two songs from 2007's The Stage Names: "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene" and "Unless It's Kicks".

Okkervil River's latest album, The Silver Gymnasium, is out now on ATO Records, their first outside of Jagjaguwar. Matthew E. White's final night with Okkervil River is tonight in Chicago.