That is Josh Tillman’s debut on the Royal Albert Corridor – or, as he tells the viewers, the primary time he’s ever even been in a room this distinguished – however it feels just like the venue that Father John Misty was born to play. Ever since Tillman recorded Concern Enjoyable as Father John Misty in 2012, he has perfected the artwork of the opulent confessional – half folks, half cabaret – that feels tailored for the inside of the Albert Corridor, a womb designed by Fabergé.
And Tillman is in beautiful kind as he brings his Mahashmashana tour to the UK. Backed by a implausible seven-piece band, plus his personal occasional contributions on acoustic, Tillman performs each music from his 2024 album, interspersed with choose additions from a powerful catalogue. Though Tillman jokes in regards to the nature of his materials – “right here’s yet one more lovely ballad about getting gaslight by capitalism” he says, eyebrows raised, earlier than “Mahashmashana” – he additionally reveals a variety that takes in nation weepers and epic pop, opening with two from the brand new album: the beautiful sluggish “I Guess Time Simply Makes Fools Of Us All”, adopted by the poppier “Josh Tillman And The Unintentional Dose”.
The latter is among the joke-filled character-led songs that Tillman delivers like a singing stand-up, full with hand gestures, exaggerated facial expressions, intelligent intonation and excellent comedian timing. These songs are very humorous and splendidly carried out, bringing out the drama pupil in Tillman. He treats us to a bunch of them, together with “Mr Tillman” and “The Night time Josh Tillman Got here To Our Apt”. All of them function within the first half of the set alongside fan favorite “Nancy From Now On”, the attractive “God’s Favourite Buyer” and two crackers from 2022’s Chloe And The Subsequent Twentieth Century, “Goodbye Mr Blue” and “This autumn”.
The “Tillman” songs are likely to relate, in painful element, nocturnal adventures, the place our unreliable narrator’s behaviour might have been lower than excellent, however his fellow adventurers deserve every little thing they get. They’re humorous however a little bit merciless, combining lacerating introspection with sweeping generalisations, a bit like diary entries that proceed to be learn years after the occasion. That’s an issue he acknowledges earlier than “Nothing Good Ever Occurs At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow” from 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear, which he described as written by “a precocious 33-year-old and subsequently more and more unattractive to carry out in public”. That doesn’t imply he holds again any, as an alternative taking the efficiency up a notch till he hits a degree that’s one degree of camp beneath Elvis in Vegas.
The viewers find it irresistible, and he may have set himself lure, however Tillman is aware of precisely what’s he doing. He makes use of that as a springboard, launching right into a barrage of songs from the brand new album, cleverly showcasing the elevated depth and maturity of his more moderen work in addition to his distinctive vocal vary. The mutant funk of “She Cleans Up” is electrifying, and it’s adopted by the up to date pop sheen of “Screamland”, with dramatic lighting and an enormous sound that reverberates across the bowl. These are excellent songs on report, however excellent dwell. He then abruptly switches moods, taking the elegiac “Summer season’s Gone” virtually as a solo, accompanied solely by piano. Bathed in a highlight, Tillmann may very well be Sinatra or Piaf, and it’s a special form of drama to the 2 previous songs – one which earns a standing ovation. The set closes with two exhausting, exhilarating epics from the brand new report, “Psychological Well being” and “Mahashmashana”.
How you can comply with that? Tillman emerges for the encore a little bit overwhelmed by the response. Good love music “Chateau Foyer” goes down very nicely, which Tillman follows with two bleaker numbers – “Holy Shit” and “…Magic Mountain”, the latter acknowledged as “yet one more interminable meditation on growing old”. The viewers doesn’t appear to thoughts, significantly when he closes with the ecstatic “I Love You, Honeybear”, a music about holding on to like within the apocalyptic end-times that Father John Misty was created to attain.
Father John Misty setlist, Royal Albert Corridor, London, April 15, 2025:
I Guess Time Simply Makes Fools Of Us All
Josh Tillman And The Unintentional Dose
This autumn
Being You
The Night time Josh Tillman Got here To Our Apt
Mr Tillman
Goodbye Mr Blue
Nancy From Now On
Disillusioned Diamonds Are The Rarest of Them All
God’s Favourite Buyer
Nothing Good Ever Occurs At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow
She Cleans Up
Screamland
Summer season’s Gone
Psychological Well being
Mahashmashana
ENCORE
Chateau Foyer #4 (In C For Two Virgins)
So I’m Rising Outdated On Magic Mountain
Holy Shit
I Love You, Honeybear
