Thievery Corporation Setlist

Sound the Alarm Intro
Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes*
Medley 2^
Originality+
Facing East
Lebanese Blonde*
Letter to the Editor+
Babylon Falling^
Mandala
All That We Perceive*
Amerimacka^
Heart is a Hunter~
Air Batucada
Sleeper Car Intro
Meu Nego*
Road Block+
The Richest Man in Babylon^
Para Sempre*
The Shining Path
San San Rock+
Exilio*
Warning Shots ^ * +
— Encore —
Sweet Tides*

* with Laura Vall
+ with Racquel Jones ^ with Puma Ptah
~ with Frank Orrall

Downtempo electronic pioneers Thievery Corporation headlined First Avenue’s mainroom on Thursday, September 26, 2024.

Opening the show was one-man-band Dosh (Martin Dosh), who did live mixes, loops, and played live instruments for his songs.

Before ending his set with “Mr Rogers”, Dosh stood up to explain how much he loved Thievery Corporation, and that he’s “been listening to them my whole life.”

We’ve already previously mentioned that Thievery Corporation’s sound is unlike anything you’ve heard. The duo (Rob Garza and Eric Hilton) have a very good ear for good music, taking elements of world music (from Middle Eastern to Brazilian to Indian to jazz to reggae). And as diverse is their music, their audience is also quite diverse, at First Avenue. Fans were from all over the country and while some were hippies, others were music nerds. Thievery Corporation brought all these fans together to enjoy their music.

Just a little background, but my first Thievery Corporation album was their best-charting album, Radio Retaliation. I got it in Sep 2008, and I became an instant fan, writing, “They have a vast knowledge of all world music (Indian, French, Brazilian, etc), and they have good ears to pick out the best ones to sample and remix…. I also really enjoyed the the soulful/funk “The Numbers Game” and the Spanish song, “El Pueblo Unido”, but my favorite is the French song, “La Femme Parallel”.”

If you thought Thievery Corporation was just going to do DJ set, you’d be wrong. They have a full live band, which included Rob Myers on sitar and guitar and Frank Orrall on percussion and vocals, Jeff Franca on drums, and Dan Africano on bass. And the best part is that they brought along three vocalists: Laura Vall, Racquel Jones, and Puma Ptah. What’s really interesting is that each singer had their own songs and would only come on stage to sing their songs (with the only exception being the set’s finale “Warning Shots”). It’s really cool, each of the three singers brought their own style and flavor to their songs. It’s very unique and you don’t see many live bands that operate like this.

Thievery Corporation continues their tour.