A "Cathartic" Father John Misty Concert

I’ve been to a good amount of concerts in my life, but somehow it took me almost 22 years to attend one alone. On a somewhat stressful Monday, I went to see the ‘beloved’ (in my eyes) Father John Misty. I’ve been listening to him since high school and he’s remained one of my favorite artists for years. It’s been a dream to see him perform for quite some time, and last May I coughed up the cold hard cash to finally make it a reality. For the past few months I was regretting my decision, since A) I had no one to go with, and B) I wasn’t as obsessed with his new album (spoiler: it’s grown on me since). I even was thinking on that treacherous Monday, what if I quickly resold the ticket? But now that I’ve had time to reflect, a lot of the anxiety came from being afraid of going to something like this alone. I think I was justified in being nervous and frankly a bit scared. However, I am so glad I proved myself wrong. Solo concerts might just be my new favorite thing? I’ve never experienced a more cathartic concert. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever described a concert as ‘cathartic.’

The night started off strong when I arrived 30 minutes after the doors opened and got what I’d say was a pretty good seat. Well, it was a standing space, but in the second row? Not too shabby. I was pushed a bit to the left, but the view was great nonetheless. After about 30 minutes of standing awkwardly with my arms crossed, a sweet-looking blonde British woman who goes by the name of Suki Waterhouse appeared on stage. I’ve known her for a long time, but I still cannot place where I recognize her from. Tumblr? That’s my best guess. It didn’t matter where I’d seen her before; what was most important to recognize was how wonderful she was. Her lovely, sultry performance put the whole crowd in a trance; I couldn’t look away. Her set lasted probably 45 minutes and had some great songs in the mix. One of my favorites was “Coolest Place in the World,” a 2019 single, and it was somehow even more stripped down than the recorded version. She had my full attention for those charming three minutes, and I can confirm she was indeed the coolest girl in the world. Once her set ended, it was nice to see everyone in the room look at their friends, surprised by how much they enjoyed her music.

With the positive energy already vibrating around the room, the crowd was ramping up for the man, the myth, the absolute ballistic legend. I was looking forward to a classic Father John Misty rant or maybe something slightly feral from him. Let’s just say Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, has the reputation of being a great performer. So, I had some pretty big expectations going in. I was also slightly worried that maybe COVID could have affected his showmanship. However, I am happy to report that nothing can change Mr. Misty. He had it all: the wit, the voice, the moves, the drama, and the generally captivating stage presence I was craving. He started off the show with “Q4” off of his new album, Chloë and the Next 20th Century, admittedly one of my favorites on it. In the moment, I was a bit worried the next hour and a half would be filled with mainly new songs, but oh sweet lord, I was so wrong. He found the perfect mix between new and old tunes, but mainly he seemed to favor older hits.

One of my favorite moments from the show was when he stopped mid-”Funny Girl” to point out how two girls in the front row were clapping off-beat. He said something along the lines of “Stop! Security take these girls away! Get them out! They are clapping on the 4th beat, but it’s clearly ⅜.” He picked on them for a moment longer before continuing with “Funny girl / for once your timing wasn’t great.” Ugh, genius! The whole show felt slightly calculated, but also perfectly natural. I was obsessed with the attention to detail, like when the lighting during “Hangout at the Gallows” mimicked the red and teal cover art of his 2018 album God’s Favorite Customer.

The crowd was a mixed bag of all ages, but at the end of the day, we were all just obsessed with the same fascinating man. I often glanced to my right to see a middle-aged woman really throwing it back with her husband. He seemed slightly embarrassed of her, but I wanted to high-five the woman for being able to shake her booty to Misty. It wasn’t a dancey crowd — besides me and her — so we might have stuck out like sore thumbs…but I don’t think either of us minded. I couldn’t stop myself from singing every lyric and throwing myself around like a fool. If you play a song from the album I Love You, Honeybear (in any context) I’ll go crazy. It’s a fact.

You can probably imagine my excitement when the last song he played was one of my favorite songs from said album: “The Ideal Husband.” It’s arguably one of his most cathartic songs. The whole last verse gets me going like nothing else, and of course, he had to come out into the crowd during it… It’s like he wanted me to go insane. Imagine being three feet away from Father John Misty while we both scream “Let's put a baby in the oven / Wouldn't I make the ideal husband?” I couldn’t have asked for a better ending — In fact, I couldn’t have asked for a better concert. I was in shock as the house lights came on, and when I finally ran into a few friendly faces, I didn’t know what to say. We all just kept repeating, “Wow, that was so good” or “Wow, he was so good.” If I had to sum up my experience, I think it would probably go a little something like, “Wow, that was so good…”

After the concert, I was wishing I could be a roadie on tour. I just wanted to see him over and over and over again. There was something so intoxicating about his showmanship and the performance that night. I think I might be happy being stuck in some time loop where I just relive that concert.

If I had to put a rating on the show it would be a whopping 10/10. No shockers there. If you get the opportunity to see Father John Misty…please don’t pass it up.

— Abby Navin

Abby NavinNovember 18, 2022