An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the National for what was Father John Misty’s (Joshua Tillman) first performance for the city of Richmond.
An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the National for what was Father John Misty’s (Joshua Tillman) first performance for the city of Richmond. Misty, or J. Tillman as he previously performed as, has been a best-kept secret for a couple of years now, gaining popularity as a solo artist but also the former drummer of Fleet Foxes.
It was not until he left the group only to re-emerge under his mysterious but very playful Father John Misty moniker that established him as a force to be reckoned with. When his Sub-Pop debut landed in stores last year is when Tillman started to gain a sizable following for his folk-leaning, neo-psychedelic music. Several music videos, one even featuring Aubrey Plaza, word of mouth, and even a women’s perfume soon followed allowing the cult of Father John Misty to explode.
Performing solo instead with an acoustic guitar and not with a usual full band, the recent show was a simple but valiant showcase for the singer-songwriter who has spent years cultivating a formidable mystique.
Misty was not all alone in his endeavors to entertain, opening for him was the wonderful comedian by the name of Kate Berlant. Not often will you find the two combinations of rock act and stand-up, but it was a good choice and a welcome change instead of the usual three solid acts of similarly placed music.
Hailing from Brooklyn NY, Kate Berlant provided a great pre-game to Tillman’s songs. Berlant isn’t a household name yet, but she assured the audience that her cameo as an extra on Tia and Tamera Mowry’s mid-90s sitcom “Sister, Sister” would be enough to establish her for all the non-believers in attendance.
Berlant came across as a naturally strong performer and awfully likable in her monologue-esque approach to doing stand-up. Disguised as humorous self-deprecating, hyper-aware rambling; Berlant’s jokes come off as organic but is too well crafted to be anything other.
Berlant eventually brandished a guitar, offering up a song that never actually came, but provided the crowd a very funny diagnostic of the parts that make up of her said guitar. This playful interaction with the audience also lent itself to Berlant offering up assurance that the bracelets she handed out which read “I feel” were in fact made by the destruction of some person’s lives whose job it was to craft them for us. It’s dark humor for sure, but it never quite feels that way even when Berlant suggests we all burn down our homes later that night in unity and then immediately make a Facebook group for it.
Berlant never fell into the pitfall of obnoxiousness that many do with this type of comedy, so hopefully this won’t be the last we see her.
Not too long after, the audience was treated to an unannounced man wearing a over-sized bunny head that poured himself a comically large glass of red wine. Removing his bunny head, Tillman revealed himself and clarified that what he just did was in fact “art”. This act was a good indication of whether or not Tillman is your man; his penchant for the ridiculous combined with sincere emotion is a wholly intoxicating mix. A big separation between Tillman and his peers is his witty sense of humor that often feels irreverent and is habitually clever. It’s a nice change of pace between the already impressive songs that doesn’t let dullness to ever set in. It’s a lack of pretension that is a welcome breath of fresh air so desperately needed in any music scene.
Tillman as a performer offers a sense of mystery with his Father John Misty persona that leads you to wonder just what’s next up his sleeve for this showman around the fourth song of the night, Tillman announced to the crowd that he’s used to performing inside people’s cell phones as it is all he knows, only to be accompanied by a giant I-phone placed before him so he could perform inside it for the audience’s surreal benefit. Blazing through his most popular songs early on, it seemed Tillman was weeding out the casual fans quickly, but given the audiences dedication to his presentation it wasn’t necessary in the least.
A definite highlight was Tillman’s slowed down version of “Hollywood Cemetery Forever Sings” which came across as more haunting than jaunty. Tillman even offered up his version of “Lady With A Braid” by 70’s singer-songwriter Dory Pervins.
Behind all the tricks and quips, there is a real solid performer in Tillman. Not only is his playing tight and songwriting imaginative but also his voice is booming and quite melodic. His sense of melody and pretty descriptions certainly do him justice. Misty questioned the audience’s knowledge if he had ever in fact visited Richmond while mysteriously referring himself as “we.”
Getting laughs seemed to come naturally for this already impressive performer as much of the in-between song interactions were met with not mirth but laughter. “I always refer to myself as “we”. It’s one of my more disturbing character traits…” deadpanned Tillman. Occasionally he would mention “Sportsball” as a reference to the World Series game currently being played and possibly watched by no-shows over his own performance.
In the end, Tillman assured us all he was here for entertainment and we were more than welcome to the ride. A couple of new songs were previewed and easily compliment his current roster of “Fear Fun” heavy favorites. It will be interesting to see where he goes as an artist but also as the performer. “Sportsball” or not, you should not have missed out on this exciting evening with one of America’s most impressive songwriters and showman.
