Father John Misty Setlist

I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All
Mr. Tillman
Nancy From Now On
Being You
Goodbye Mr. Blue
When You’re Smiling and Astride Me
Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)
Mental Health
Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose
Screamland
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
The Payoff
The Old Law
I’m Writing a Novel
Ballad of the Dying Man
Real Love Baby
I Love You, Honeybear
— Encore —
Pure Comedy
She Cleans Up
Holy Sh**
Mahashmashana

King Tuff Setlist

Delusions
Life Begins at 40
Oil Change
Invisible Ink
Unglued
Nightowl
Landline
I Love You Ugly
Crosseyed Critters
Turtles World
Beautiful Cosmos (Ivor Cutler cover)

It’s always interesting to see the pairing of openers and headliners on different tours. Some seem almost random, and others, it’s easy to see the connection. It was the latter on a Wednesday in Saint Paul, with a reunion of sorts, as King Tuff and Father John Misty made a stop at the Palace Theatre. The Sub Pop Records label mates have toured together before (we caught their 2015 stop at First Avenue) and it was going to be a tremendous night of indie rock.

The evening started with the very fun King Tuff. We have caught the King (real name Kyle Thomas) multiple times over the years, most recently with his MOO tour stop at Turf Club in May 2026, supporting his seventh and newest album. It’s a great one, and if you read the review, you’ll know why I jumped at the chance to see him again, even with the constraints of being the opener. He arrived on stage solo with guitar, saying “usually I play with a band real loud, but today I am on my own and playing real quiet”. Also saying he would be playing a lot of songs about getting older, King Tuff began his stripped down set and it was a fantastic contrast to the Turf Club show. He wasn’t kidding about the getting older theme as the second song was Life Begins at Forty. Lest you think this was super benign, know that King Tuff had a full pedal board and was cranking the reverb on his guitar throughout. Oil Change and Invisible Ink were off MOO, and they were a bit of a revelation with the focus on the lyrics and his clear vocals made the early going very inviting. Nightowl was very much a lullaby, with a gentle rocking guitar riff and may have been my favorite song of his set. Noting it was his last night of the tour with Father John Misty, King Tuff mentioned this was his third tour with Misty and also how pleased he was to be back in the Cities. Back to the music, things got a bit louder and darker and Landline was excellently guttural singing and seemed very plaintive. To follow up with the hilarious I Love You Ugly was a bit of a master stroke, and replacing the final ugly with “Saint Paul” was very funny. Crosseyed Critters played very differently than the full band version and continued to highlight the clever and often touching lyrics. Ending on a cover of Beautiful Cosmos, King Tuff ended his forty minute set on a quiet contemplative song and had deeply impressed on his closing night.

Father John Misty (real name Joshua Tillman) was up and raring to go. He’s got a long discography, with 15 studio releases, including the last six as Father John Misty. Operating in a broad swath of indie rock and adjacent genres, Misty is a multi, multi-instrumentalist (if he could duplicate himself on stage he could basically be a band by himself), and is known for unique performance style. We last saw him at the Minnesota Yacht Club in July 2025 and I was looking forward to seeing a full set rather than the truncated festival run. The stage was packed with instruments, so it was unsurprising when there ended up being seven backing musicians on stage (Sometimes six? It was a little confusing.) along with Father John Misty who came on in suit and white tee. That opener, I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All, was a marathon and Misty started with guitar, and ended without it for the dance mode at the end. Mr. Tillman was equally fire and the audience was rolling. That band (guitar, saxophone/flute, keyboards, keyboards/trumpet, guitar/keyboards, bass, and drums) were in fine form and the drums in From Nancy Now On were splendid. Misty had a pretty good amount of space across the front of the stage and he used it, with expressive body language as each song called for. A bit of banter about what is drawn on the walls in the Palace basement was silly and a bit self-deprecating and then the band was off again.

When You’re Smiling and Astride Me blasted its opening before paring back for the vocals and coming back full tilt on the chorus. The band was working, and with everyone in coats of some variety, the small breaks had Misty wiping off the sweat as he was getting ready for the next song. Mental Health was a self love song of sorts? And the flute flying in the background added to the strange contrast of music and lyrics. The change to a wildly funky number showed that musical range Father John Misty has and those instruments were effectively pulling some very different vibes. Screamland was darn near orchestral in the music and Misty belted out those lyrics as the song picked up intensity. It was suddenly just Misty and drummer for Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings and that repeated “Jesus Christ Girl” hit hard, and the slow build back of the band during the number made a great expansion musically. The Old Law continued this high blazing section, with a great guitar solo and Misty in a sleek hunter mode in his constant movement across stage. We changed directions again and Ballad of the Dying Man was part of some more folky rock songs. I Love You, Honeybear was a soaring way to finish the main set. Into the encore, you knew She Cleans Up was in the queue, and when it hit second (and pretty much exactly at the two hour mark), the crowd went nuts. Holy S*** had Misty on guitar and only a keyboardist in support, if you don’t count the crowd that was singing along the whole way. Like before, the other band members slowly edged back in and it was the full complement as the final song Mahashmashana kicked into gear. Father John Misty had put the cherry on top of a a brilliantly long evening.