With no more than 1/3 of its max capacity occupied, the Bowery Ballroom felt extremely spacious for once. Whether or not Matthew E. White cared about the turnout never became apparent as he still performed a full set, mostly drawn from his debut album Big Inner. Opener Helado Negro at least had a few people dancing along to his songs, but White’s music isn’t as conducive to dancing. But White himself demonstrated some synchronized steps alongside bassist Cameron Ralston, stepping side to side and around during the middle of a song. Some of his songs lacked the brass or horns that appeared on that album, but his smaller band worked well to keep the audience entertained. It is likely that the band were also enjoying themselves. As CMJ said, “The group has been touring this material for a while now and like any adventurous, talented group of musicians, it’s obvious they take a certain amount of glee in finding new wrinkles in them, stretching solos out into new shapes and trying out new arrangements just for the hell of it.” If you haven’t checked out the well received (critically) album from White, there’s still plenty of time to do so, and to catch him on tour in Europe during the summer. Dates are below.
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Setlist:
Will You Love Me
One of These Days
Steady Pace
Are you Ready for the Country (Waylon Jennings)
Hot Toddies
Big Love
Human Style
Gone Away
Brazos
Tour Dates:
May 24 Primavera Sound Festival Barcelona, Spain
Jun 02 Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia
Jun 03 Northcote Social Club Melbourne, Australia
Jun 14 Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester, TN
Jun 15 The LC Pavilion w/ The National, Lo…
Columbus, OH
Jun 23 Hollywood Bowl w/ She And Him, Emm…
Los Angeles, CA
Jul 01 Leaf Liverpool, United Kingdom
Jul 02 The Glee Club Birmingham, United Kingdom
Jul 04 Roskilde Festivalpladsen Roskilde, Denmark
Jul 05 Eurockeennes Festival Belfort, France
Jul 15 Nuits De Fourviere w/ George Clinton &…
Lyon, France
Jul 18 Iveagh Gardens w/ Grizzly Bear
Dublin, Ireland
Jul 19 The Sage Gateshead w/ The Mavericks, P…
Gateshead, United Kingdom
Jul 20 Latitude Festival 2013 Beccles, United Kingdom RSVP
Jul 24 Sarah P. Duke Gardens Durham, NC RSVP
Aug 28 Helsinki Festival Helsinki, Finland
Aug 30 End of The Road Festival Salisbury, United Kingdom
Sep 02 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, United Kingdom
Sep 04 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire London, United Kingdom
Sep 05 Tivoli de Helling Utrecht, Netherlands
Sep 06 Into The Great Wide Open Oost Vlieland, Netherlands RSVP
Sep 07 Bestival 2013 Arreton, United Kingdom
Sep 09 Vega Copenhagen, Denmark
Sep 10 Pustervik Göteborg, Sweden
Sep 11 Parkteatret Scene Grünerløkka, Norway
Sep 12 Debaser Strand Stockholm, Sweden