MJ Lenderman & the Wind at First Ave (10-12-2024)

The first signs of winter crept into First Ave as some in the sold-out show donned ski caps. The drummer from the opening act even sported a red toque like he was ready to join Steve Zissou on an aquatic adventure or head across the street to see 21 Pilots at the Target Center.

Along with the red-capped drummer Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band took the stage, all carrying empty Dixie Paper Plates.

What I thought was a musical prop to be used later in the show may have been the setlist, which would have been cool to see sailing into the crowd after the set.

Ryan Davis and his band are from Louisville, Kentucky and they are out on the road supporting their album Dancing on the Edge. The songs have a novelesque quality with Davis at times almost sounding like a narrator, setting a particular scene, or as Pitchfork perfectly described, “The songs tend to lope along with the relaxed pleasure of taking the scenic route home.”

Throughout the set there were such great lines that ambled, like “Junk Drawer Heart”:

MJ Lenderman at First Ave (18 Nov 2022)

We last saw MJ Lenderman and his band nka The Wind almost two years before at First Ave. He was opening up for Plainsand his first song was an eight minute dirge of a man who had no intention of getting over a breakup. “No Mercy” was contemplative, angry, defeated, defiant and I thought to myself, “Who starts off an opening set with an eight minute sad, sad song and why do I like it so much?”

Lenderman has had quite the 2024, teaming up Katie Crutchfield’s Waxahatcheeto release “Right Back to It” which they played on The Late Show, then playing “Wristwatch” on the The Tonight Show with his own band. Then at the start of his tour, his hometown of Ashville, North Carolina took the brunt of Hurricane Helene.

Lenderman opened the set highlighting songs from his new album Manning the Fireworks, before moving onto a fan favorite “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat.”

He briefly mentioned the tragedy that hit his hometown and said they were selling white concert shirts for hurricane relief and contributing a song to a compilation for the effort. But mostly, he kept a laconic distance, looking more comfortable taking it all in than talking between songs. Mostly he let his lyrics and his voice do the speaking. There was also some fine guitar solos that also highlighted his band as they moved into a few jam sessions, especially “Bark at the Moon” which veered into a free-jazz odyssey before dovetailing into “No Mercy” another eight minute dirge that was as mesmerizing as the first time I heard it.

Remaining tour dates: