The Joy Formidable Setlist

The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade
Cradle
Y Bluen Eira
Ostrich
Come See the Show
Into the Blue
Austere
Sevier
Silent Treatment
Gotta Feed My Dog
— Encore —
Endtapes
Whirring

Tres Leches Setlist

Bad Kid
Strangest of Friends
What Are You Doing
Fireworks
Two Fifty
Nieve
Leaving My Light On
Nueva York

Welsh alternative rock band The Joy Formidable is currently on their Into the Blue tour. We caught the trio (Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan, Rhydian Dafydd and Matthew James Thomas) at their appearance at the recordBar in Kansas City, on September 6, and at the Turf Club in St Paul, on September 7th.

Open the show was Seattle’s Tres Leches (which translate to “Three Milk”), in their third and fourth show with Joy Formidable. They seem full of energy and excitement that only a band in their youth can bring to the stage. According to their biography, it started with Alaia D’Alessandro and Ulises Mariscal bonding over music at Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival. By 2016, they recorded and released their debut EP, and hanging out with The Coathangers and Tacocat, etc.

It’s interesting to note that after “Two Fifty”, Alaia switched to guitars, as lead vocals were handled by the drummer.

We’ve been writing about The Joy Formidable since July 2008 (nearly 15 years ago) since the release of their debut single, “Austere”. In that article we wrote that so many bands are here today, gone tomorrow, but we didn’t think that was the case with Joy Formidable. In fact, we ended the article with, “They look and sound fantastic, so hopefully that is the case live in concert.”

Fast-forward to Oct 2015 and we finally got a chance to see the band at the Turf Club: “Speaking of coming out of the studio, The Joy Formidable has just put the finishing touches on their new self-produced album, Hitch, due out early next year, and previewed some of the new music to the sold-out crowd during their 84 min. headlining set.”

With the delayed 2022 tour (no thanks to the COVID pandemic), the band is finally back on tour for their fifth album Into the Blue, with the Kansas City and St Paul, being their fifth and sixth show in three years.

Lighting conditions were especially dark and with a blue and splash of purple (see photos), perhaps in theme of Into the Blue.

We’ve since seen the band multiple times, and since it’s been so long since they last tour, Ritzy seems more open and extra chatty.

The band was also happy to reconnecting with many of their returning fans from previous shows. Compared to their “loose” set in Nov 2018, the band was seemed focused playing the new songs, including the title track “Into The Blue” and “Sevier”.

Remaining tour dates:

09.09 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club +
09.11 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom +
09.12 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage +
09.14 – Wantagh, NY @ Mulcahy’s *
09.15 – Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater *
09.16 – Columbus, OH @ Kemba Live *
09.17 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest
09.18 – Grand Rapids, RI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe *
09.20 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s *
09.21 – Chattanooga, TN @ The Signal *
09.22 – Little Rock, AR @ The Hall *
09.25 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life
09.26 – Denver, CO @ Summit *
09.27 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Even Center *
09.28 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory *
09.30 – Spokane, WA @Knitting Factory *
10.01 – Tacoma, WA @ Temple Theater *
10.03 – Reno, NV @ Cargo *
10.04 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst *
10.05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery *
10.06 – Venice, CA @ The Venice West
10.07 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Music Hall *
10.09 – Ventura, CA @ Majestic Theater*
10.11 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater *
10.12 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater *
10.17 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues *
10.18 – Birmingham, AL @ Iron City #
10.21 – Albany, NY @ The Hollow #
10.22 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge #
10.25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall #
10.27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts #
10.28 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair #
10.29 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom #
10.31 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI #
11.01 – Univeristy City, MO @ Duck Room #
11.02 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room #
11.06 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile #
11.07 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studio #
11.09 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent #
11.11 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriets #
11.12 – San Diego, CA @ SODA Bar #
11.15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre #

* with The Front Bottoms
# with Cuffed Up
+ with Tres Leches