Watch Father John Misty Debut “Hangout At The Gallows” At Primavera Sound
Contrary to what you might believe after scrolling through Twitter for a few seconds, Kanye West’s messy, intensely personal Ye wasn’t the only album to come out last night. It wasn’t even the best album to come out last night. Depending on your taste or your mood, that could be Oneohtrix Point Never’s Age Of. But for my money, it’d be another intensely personal album that deals with mental health issues and marriage: Father John Misty’s gorgeous, heartbreakingly human God’s Favorite Customer.
Father John Misty gave his first performance since the album’s release at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona today. And after beginning his set with a number of songs from his earlier records — “Nancy From Now On,” “Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins),” “Only Son Of The Ladiesman,” “Total Entertainment Forever” — and a performance of his most recent single “Please Don’t Die,” he took the opportunity to debut “Hangout At The Gallows,” God’s Favorite Customer’s rueful opening track.
Although he took up his guitar elsewhere in the set, Josh Tillman spent the entirety of “Hangout At The Gallows” as a pure frontman, shimmying around the stage and cradling the microphone with his hands and his honeyed voice as his backing band handled the music. And his backing band, which included several horn players and an entire string section, more than handled the music, bringing all of the record’s lush ’70s singer-songwriter studio-pop grandeur to magical life onstage. It was a great performance, and our very own fearless leader Scott Lapatine was on hand to capture it for the rest of us enjoy. So do that below.
me and my dad pic.twitter.com/Sgr8jT8HF6
— (@scottgum) June 1, 2018