Ahh, I see. Thanks again. I'll grab my tickets now then...

According to Ticketfly and Club Congress, Shearwater is also playing in Tucson on 7/12!

edit: looks like this one isn't happening after all, it's been pulled from venue calendar and is now listed as "off sale" on Ticketfly. Bummer.

St. Vincent tour starts tonight! We're seeing them on Saturday. Wish they were co-headlining, but I can't really complain.

We saw them a week ago. Christiaan was with his band Brass Bed at the NOLA Jazz Festival, so a former bandmate of Jonathan's was filling in on bass. He did admirably on ONE REHEARSAL (except the opening of Immaculate... awww) but I was surprised by how much I missed Christiaan.

The rest of the band was noticeably tighter. Lucas's vocals have improved - not that they were bad, but they're excellent now. And, honestly, JM's have too. Where Animal Life used to start in an uncertain falsetto that sounded like it was going to go off the rails any second, he now starts in full voice. There was a certain appeal to the old way, but it sounds more assured now. No surprises in the setlist, but we hadn't seen Snow Leopard yet this tour, so that was a treat.

If anything, the set was a little TOO assured and powerful. It gave the distinct impression that they were trying to blow St. Vincent off the stage. It was great for the converted, but I don't know if a more understated set would be more effective at getting new fans.

Unlike Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent was not blown off the stage. I like Strange Mercy, even if nothing off it does for me what any song off Actor does. As a live performer, though, she is just amazing. Her cover of The Pop Group's "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" was magnificently deranged, more than anything I've ever seen her do. My wife nearly got run over in the rush to manhandle the crowd-surfing Annie during closer Krokodil, though. They skipped a song from the setlist and ended with a keys and vocal arrangement of The Party that left me more than satisfied.

I doubt that I'll see a better concert this year (and I'm seeing Radiohead next month).

I have an extra ticket to this Friday's Birmingham show with St. Vincent. All my friends have baled out to go to the Hangout Fest instead. I'll give away 1 ticket or sell the pair as I'm also going to the Raleigh show next week and don't know if I want to go by myself.

I'm going to miss it by a hair, and that kills me. They're taking requests on Facebook.

A friend of mine filmed the show. He posted already.

and setlist from Jonathan and Lucas' set in L.A. 06/01:

Red Sea, Black Sea (!)
Dread Sovereign
You as You Were
The Snow Leopard
Rooks
Run the Banner Down
Breaking the Yearlings
Animal Life
Hail, Mary

I almost don't believe that it happened. Although that's probably the caffeine crash and sleep-deprivation talking.

Finally delurking to thank Jonathan and Lucas for an amazing show last night. Words... still kind of fail me.

Looks like Shearwater will be opening for Dinosaur Jr. for some shows this fall:

Austin October 4:
Flagstaff October 8:

DinoJr are playing Detroit on September 27. I hope Shearwater are with them!

Looks bad for a headlining major US tour this year. (Oh you lucky West Coasties.) That's a shame. It's criminal and bewildering that they are depending on other artists to draw crowds.

I've just seen the guys in Stockholm. What a concert! I've seen them a couple of times before, and they are just somehow better every time I see them. Jonathans voice is amazing (amazing!!), and the band is just great. They did not quite manage to out-noise the last act I saw in that venue, but they did a pretty good job of it. For the record, that previous concert was Michael Gira acoustic - I don't think anyone or anything can beat Gira

The DinoJr tour is official. Pretty wide-ranging, though they're missing Detroit again. Awww.

Mon Oct 1, 2012
Mercy Lounge**
Nashville, TN

Tue Oct 2, 2012
Variety Playhouse**
Atlanta, GA

Wed Oct 3, 2012
Tipitina’s**
New Orleans, LA

Thu Oct 4, 2012
The Mohawk**
Austin, TX

Fri Oct 5, 2012
Fitzgerald’s**
Houston, TX

Sat Oct 6, 2012
The Prophet Bar**
Dallas, TX

Mon Oct 8, 2012
The Orpheum Theater**
Flagstaff, AZ

Thu Oct 11, 2012
WOW Hall**
Eugene, OR

Sun Oct 14, 2012
Urban Lounge**
Salt Lake City, UT

Mon Oct 15, 2012
The Bluebird Theater**
Denver, CO

Wed Oct 17, 2012
The Waiting Room**
Omaha, NE

Thu Oct 18, 2012
The Cabooze**
Minneapolis, MN

Fri Oct 19, 2012
Majestic Theater**
Madison, WI

Sat Oct 20, 2012
Orbit Room**
Grand Rapids, MI

Mon Oct 22, 2012
The Bluebird**
Bloomington, IN

Tue Oct 23, 2012
Beachland Ballroom**
Cleveland, OH

Wed Oct 24, 2012
Mr. Small’s Theatre**
Millvale, PA

Thu Oct 25, 2012
Black Cat**
Washington DC

Fri Oct 26, 2012
Jefferson Theater**
Charlottesville, VA

Sat Oct 27, 2012
Union Transfer**
Philadelphia, PA

I'm still hoping against hope that they add some headlining shows before or after...

Photos from and .

The main set for both shows was the same:

The Snow Leopard
Castaways
Dread Sovereign
You as You Were
Insolence
Rooks
Immaculate
Pushing the River
Open Your Houses
Run the Banner Down
Breaking the Yearlings
Star of the Age

Encore for the San Diego show was White Waves and These Days. Encore for LA was Hail, Mary (started with Jonathan solo, ended with full band), Landscape at Speed, White Waves and These Days.

I'll probably have more to say when the tour's over, but right now I need to think about maybe packing before I leave tomorrow.

Main set is basically the same as the opening sets I've seen except for Open Your Houses, but man what I wouldn't give to see the LA encores.

I really want to hear OYH live. Have they ever done Believing Makes It Easy live? That's one of my favorites on the album... (but then, what isn't).

I wonder how many of the old songs they can do with this lineup. I'm surprised they haven't to my knowledge done Century Eyes.