|
Fruit Bats Setlist
Tour Dates
4/15 – Maquoketa, IA – Codfish Hollow
4/16 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre 4/18 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Phoenix Theatre 4/19 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl 4/20 – New York, NY – Webster Hall 4/21 – Boston, MA – Royale 4/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club 4/25 – Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle 4/27 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl 4/28 – Scaly Mountain, NC – Bear Shadow + 4/29 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse 4/30 – Jacksonville, FL – Intuition Ale Works 5/10 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up Tavern 5/11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre 5/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel 5/13 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel 5/14 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel 5/17 – Austin, TX – Mohawk 5/19 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre 5/20 – Salt Lake City, UT – Commonwealth Room 5/21 – Bozeman, MT – The Elm 5/24 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall 5/25 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall 5/26 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Market 5/27 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Commodore Ballroom + w/ Spoon Read More
|
Fruit Bats (Eric D. Johnson) just headlined First Avenue’s mainroom on Friday night in support of his album, A River Running to Your Heart, available now on Merge Records.
Opening the show was Chicago’s V.V. Lightbody (aka Vivian McConnell). The band almost had to cancel their Minneapolis appearance, after their van, named “Brent”, broke down, after they had pulled a rest stop in New Lisbon, Wisconsin. After getting no help from several experts, they got a hold of someone from Bunker Automotive. He successfully deduced that their van needed a new spark plug.
When they drove their van in Bunker, Vivian told the guy, “You gotta take care of Brent!” In which, Mike, the Bunker employee, responded, “No way! That’s my dad’s name!” pointing to Brent. As it turned out, Brent was taken care of and so V.V. Lightbody was able to make it to Minneapolis, and on time.
Vivian is joined on stage by Emma Hospelhorn on keys/flute (or bass when she switches in the middle of the set), Jack on drums, and Dan on guitar (apology if I got their names wrong, it was somewhat hard to hear where I was at).
They had songs about Daniel Day Lewis, tetanus, and about a horse on fire. Funny enough, we wrote about “Horse on Fire” in May 2020: “Vivian McConnell explains, ““Horse on Fire” was initially written from a place of anger. I was pissed. It’s about someone in my life who did something almost unforgivable and then skipped town - not giving anyone time to understand what happened, heal, or forgive. How can you love someone who messed up like that? How did you not see this coming? “Horse on Fire” works through that feeling while also reflecting on the more tender moments of a deep friendship. “Horse on Fire” is the most indulgent track on Make a Shrine or Burn It: excessive saxophone, a disco-esque bass line, and a double Farfisa solo. I let this song be a loose cannon as a response to frustration, and that’s where the song wanted to go.”
Vivian confessed that she’s a bit of a fangirl, being asked to support Fruit Bats on this tour. She’s been listening to the band since she was 19 and she was beyond happy to be part of Fruit Bats.
The group ended their set with a new song called “Itinerary”, which VV described as an “anti-jealousy song.”
As you can see from Fruit Bats’ stage dressing of drapery with custom light setup, that they had wanted to create a scene. The band takes their time with some slow-burning songs, just great at building a moody relaxing easy-listening sound.
Fruit Bats started in the 90s, when Eric Johnson decided to branch out of his band I Rowboat, to work on a solo project under the name Fruit Bats. Sup Pop Records discovered Fruit Bats in 2002, thanks to being friends with members of Modest Mouse and The Shins.
We reviewed The Ruminant Band (Sub Pop) in Aug 2009, writing, “If you are looking for a laid back collection of summer tracks then I suggest you look no further than The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats. Eric D. Johnson, singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, led me on a journey to the heart of the summer. It is only fitting that I write this review with the sun beating on my back as this album radiates a fuzzy warmth and joy. If you are suffering from the recession blues, down on your luck then maybe you have just stumbled upon your cure.”
We saw Fruit Bats, right before they announced they were going to break up via a hand-written letter, in 2013… and we were happy to see them on their reformation tour in Oct 2015 and said, “Johnson’s honeyed voice was perfect, rivaled only by the dreamy strum of Barker’s guitar and gentle whirr of Klippert’s keyboards. Folk-pop gems like fan-favorite “When You Love Somebody” (from Mouthfuls) saw many people singing the famously quirky lyric, “When you love somebody and bite your tongue all you get is a mouthful of blood.” Blood, bats, love and folk - I couldn’t have asked for a better precursor to Halloween.”
Currently, Fruit Bats found themselves signed to Merge Records in 2018, and now with the new record, A River Running To Your Heart, they’re on tour once again.
Dedicated fans have not forgotten the band, and they were very happy to hear Johnson’s soothing vocals and songs once again.
As you can see from the setlist, based on what I can transcribed, the audience was really receptive to some of the older songs, such as “Flamingo.”
Fruit Bats’ A River Running To Your Heart is out now on Merge Records.
Opening the show was Chicago’s V.V. Lightbody (aka Vivian McConnell). The band almost had to cancel their Minneapolis appearance, after their van, named “Brent”, broke down, after they had pulled a rest stop in New Lisbon, Wisconsin. After getting no help from several experts, they got a hold of someone from Bunker Automotive. He successfully deduced that their van needed a new spark plug.
When they drove their van in Bunker, Vivian told the guy, “You gotta take care of Brent!” In which, Mike, the Bunker employee, responded, “No way! That’s my dad’s name!” pointing to Brent. As it turned out, Brent was taken care of and so V.V. Lightbody was able to make it to Minneapolis, and on time.
Vivian is joined on stage by Emma Hospelhorn on keys/flute (or bass when she switches in the middle of the set), Jack on drums, and Dan on guitar (apology if I got their names wrong, it was somewhat hard to hear where I was at).
They had songs about Daniel Day Lewis, tetanus, and about a horse on fire. Funny enough, we wrote about “Horse on Fire” in May 2020: “Vivian McConnell explains, ““Horse on Fire” was initially written from a place of anger. I was pissed. It’s about someone in my life who did something almost unforgivable and then skipped town - not giving anyone time to understand what happened, heal, or forgive. How can you love someone who messed up like that? How did you not see this coming? “Horse on Fire” works through that feeling while also reflecting on the more tender moments of a deep friendship. “Horse on Fire” is the most indulgent track on Make a Shrine or Burn It: excessive saxophone, a disco-esque bass line, and a double Farfisa solo. I let this song be a loose cannon as a response to frustration, and that’s where the song wanted to go.”
Vivian confessed that she’s a bit of a fangirl, being asked to support Fruit Bats on this tour. She’s been listening to the band since she was 19 and she was beyond happy to be part of Fruit Bats.
The group ended their set with a new song called “Itinerary”, which VV described as an “anti-jealousy song.”
As you can see from Fruit Bats’ stage dressing of drapery with custom light setup, that they had wanted to create a scene. The band takes their time with some slow-burning songs, just great at building a moody relaxing easy-listening sound.
Fruit Bats started in the 90s, when Eric Johnson decided to branch out of his band I Rowboat, to work on a solo project under the name Fruit Bats. Sup Pop Records discovered Fruit Bats in 2002, thanks to being friends with members of Modest Mouse and The Shins.
We reviewed The Ruminant Band (Sub Pop) in Aug 2009, writing, “If you are looking for a laid back collection of summer tracks then I suggest you look no further than The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats. Eric D. Johnson, singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, led me on a journey to the heart of the summer. It is only fitting that I write this review with the sun beating on my back as this album radiates a fuzzy warmth and joy. If you are suffering from the recession blues, down on your luck then maybe you have just stumbled upon your cure.”
|
Fruit Bats breakup letter
|
Currently, Fruit Bats found themselves signed to Merge Records in 2018, and now with the new record, A River Running To Your Heart, they’re on tour once again.
Dedicated fans have not forgotten the band, and they were very happy to hear Johnson’s soothing vocals and songs once again.
As you can see from the setlist, based on what I can transcribed, the audience was really receptive to some of the older songs, such as “Flamingo.”
Fruit Bats’ A River Running To Your Heart is out now on Merge Records.
VV Lightbody |
VV Lightbody |
VV Lightbody |
VV Lightbody |
Fruit Bats |
Fruit Bats |
Fruit Bats |
Fruit Bats at First Avenue, Minneapolis (14 April 2023) |
| vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
Recent Comments