Father John Misty w/ King Tuff at First Ave, Minneapolis (04 Apr 15)

Father John Misty Setlist

King Tuff Setlist

Madness Keep on Movin' Sun Medallion Bad Thing Black Moon Spell Staircase of Diamonds Eyes of the Muse Evergreen Connection Eddie's Song Anthem

Tour Dates

Opening up the show was Vermont's King Tuff (real name Kyle Thomas). King Tuff's sound is more garagey/surf that Burger Records is synonymous with… however the trio is currently signed to Sub Pop, with their latest release Black Moon Spell.

While I felt King Tuff's music was different from Father John Misty, they were a lot of fun and won over the audience by the end of their 45-min set. This was evident when bassist Magic Jake came back on stage to clear out his section and you heard loud claps & cheers from the audience. Jake smiled and took a bow.

As you can see from the photo of their setlist, about half of the songs were devoted to Black Moon Spell, including the title track, with "Madness", "Staircase of Diamonds", "Eyes of the Muse" and "Eddie's Song". With the fox (or minx?) animal skin, the 64 oz cup that King Tuff was always drinking from, and good old boys attitude, they seem out of place in the larger First Avenue main stage. This was a band that was used to playing at the smaller 7th Street Entry, where they can just reach out and touch their fans.

After cutting his teeth with indie rock bands Saxon Shore and Fleet Foxes, J. Tillman decided to go solo. His initial efforts as J. Tillman were somewhat depressing/loneliness folk music (much like a gentle Joni Mitchell), as Lara described on his first Minneapolis solo show at The Music Box Theatre in 2009: "Softer tracks cite 60s folk influences like Joni Mitchell, had Mitchell penned her songs in a humble log cabin, without basic comforts save for canned beans and a faithful canine companion." Tillman would return back to Minneapolis in 2010, which, again, was also low-energy: "When Josh “of Fleet Foxes” Tillman commented on the Cedar audience’s general lack of liveliness, he was not exaggerating…. and Tillman’s soothing voice contributed to the sleepy ambience."

All that changed by 2012, when Tillman reinvented himself under his new moniker Father John Misty! Listening to FJM and J.Tillman, you wouldn't think they were the same person. Father John was more like a fictional character, a preacher, a son of a ladies' man, and part-time cowboy… opposite of J.Tillman.

Father John Misty came on stage shortly after 9pm to the glow of a not-so-subtle "No Photography" neon glow inside a heart shape in the background, but, of course, a hundred cellphone camera went up to snap pictures of the singer. Count Father John Misty as one of the artists that forbids photography at his show, but unlike previous anti-photo preaching from such bands like Savages or Him & Her, Misty just accepted that he cannot stop people from filming or photographing him, so at one point in the show, he took a fan's iPhone and started filming himself as he performed "Bored In The USA".

Normally, Misty is too busy singing and hip swaying and slamming the mic stand, but there was a rare moment after "Funtimes in Babylon", that Misty opened up to the audience. "Now for the Q & A part of the show," he spoke. A fan asked him what his favorite vegetables was, which Misty answered, "My hipster friends love kale." As it turned out, Misty is a sort of "veggie medley" kind of guy. Then after thinking about it for a minute, Misty added, "Whatever they are serving at Lobsterfest, that's what I'll take."

My favorite moment in the show was his cover of "I'm Your Man", with Misty introducing it as, "Any Leonard Cohen here?" Shortly after big cheers from the audience, Misty depressingly added, "Not for long!"

After the final song, "Everyman Needs a Companion", Misty climbed down from the stage and started shaking hands and chatting with the fans in front… which is interesting, because I felt the character Father John Misty would prefer to be standoffish and mysterious instead of interacting with people. It's hard to nail down the story that J. Tillman is trying to tell, but whatever he has to say, people want to hear it.

Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear is out now on Sub Pop Records.