Father John Misty arrived at J1 as part of a sell-out UK tour. First onstage was singer Anna B Savage, performing compositions accompanied by her subtle and spacious guitar playing. Opening with cryptically titled ‘IV’ from her debut EP her intense, personal lyrics pulled us into a private world. Background audience noise spoilt the moment a bit but many were appreciative.
Song ‘I’ is a lovely melody over gently picked chords and the more free-form ‘II’ with opening line ‘I will never amount to anything…’ and build-up to an abrupt ending completed the short set strongly.

Father John Misty is the performing name of former Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman and after showcasing his new sound on the album ‘Fear Fun’ he has now released the highly acclaimed ‘I Love You, Honeybear’. And what an album it is, a lush mixture of folk, rock and country with an overarching and personal theme of falling in love. So how would this transfer to live performance? Brilliantly.

Playing acoustic and electric guitar FJM was backed by guitar, keyboards and drums. From the first (title) track, we were bowled over by the magnetic stage presence and his great singing voice and connection with the audience. ‘Strange Encounter’ echoed the retro western themes played between the acts and ‘True Affection’ is a neat electronica based surprise. ‘When You’re Smiling…’ is a soaring ballad delivered even more powerfully than the album version and was an early highlight among many.

Some of his astute modern life observations were shared with the audience between songs but of course many of the lyrics contain these too, especially ‘Bored In The USA’, a bit of a show-stopper with just piano accompaniment and described tongue-in-cheek as a meta-ballad about despair. During this he used a borrowed phone from the audience for an elaborate selfie/filming session, this ‘special’ moment then absurdly deflated when the phone-owner pointed out it wasn’t recording anyway!

I’m Writing A Novel’ was a country rock rouser then the compact delight of ‘Chateau Lobby #4…’ had the crowd singing. And plenty more…
It was a great show, one of the best I have seen at The Junction in a long while.

http://www.fatherjohnmisty.com
http://annabsavage.tumblr.com/