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 – nevertheless 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 track from his 2024 album, interspersed with choose additions from a powerful catalogue. Though Tillman jokes concerning the nature of his materials – “right here’s yet one more stunning ballad about getting gaslight by capitalism” he says, eyebrows raised, earlier than “Mahashmashana” – he additionally exhibits a spread 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 Unintended Dose”.
The latter is likely one of 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 scholar in Tillman. He treats us to a bunch of them, together with “Mr Tillman” and “The Evening Josh Tillman Got here To Our Apt”. All of them characteristic 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 fall”.
The “Tillman” songs are likely to relate, in painful element, nocturnal adventures, the place our unreliable narrator’s behaviour might have been lower than very best, however his fellow adventurers deserve every part they get. They’re humorous however somewhat 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 due to this fact 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 under Elvis in Vegas.
The viewers like it, and he might 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 modern pop sheen of “Screamland”, with dramatic lighting and an enormous sound that reverberates across the bowl. These are superb songs on file, however excellent stay. 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 distinct type 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 file, “Psychological Well being” and “Mahashmashana”.
The best way to observe that? Tillman emerges for the encore somewhat overwhelmed by the response. Good love track “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 track 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 Unintended Dose
This fall
Being You
The Evening Josh Tillman Got here To Our Apt
Mr Tillman
Goodbye Mr Blue
Nancy From Now On
Dissatisfied 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 Previous On Magic Mountain
Holy Shit
I Love You, Honeybear
