FATHER JOHN MISTY at the Danforth Music Hall, Wednesday, February 18. Rating: NNNN Win tickets to see Father John Misty at Massey Hall on April 20th here!
Father John Misty’s return to the Danforth Music Hall was about as far away from his guitar-smashing meltdown two years ago at the same venue as could be. Born Joshua Tillman, he was cheerful and in control at all times, performing with total confidence, his voice luxuriously robust, his stage moves playful and erotic, his wit top-shelf entertaining.
And if you hadn’t been fully sold on his new album, I Love You, Honeybear, which ups the unabashed romance and minimizes the irony and bleakness of 2012’s Fear Fun, its songs took on greater potency through the seven-piece band, which moved dynamically through a sonic spectrum that included lush acoustic folk, lap-steel country, epic indie rock and even chilly electronic (when all the guitarists, including Tillman, moved over to keyboards for True Affection).
Tillman gives off a vaguely madman persona – flinging himself atop a kick drum, gyrating while waving his mic stand acrobatically, crooning down on his knees to the front row – but actual danger never seemed imminent. There’s too much choreography going on between him and his hard-working on-guard guitar tech. And a lot of joke-cracking, especially during Bored In The USA. But his passion seemed genuine and never waned. Things got truly thunderous during bombastic set closer Holy Shit, which saw him wade into the crowd for a long time.
All in all, love looks good on him.
