This tour featuring solo singer-songwriters Into It. Over It. (Evan Weiss taking a turn on his own separate from his full band), Kevin Devine and Laura Stevenson has been hitting an assortment of different venues around the country, from churches and synagogues to standard music clubs. I figured the sold-out Philadelphia stop at The First Unitarian Church would have split the difference, being that they tend to hold their shows in the general purpose room downstairs, which has always been standing room only. Lo and behold, R5 Productions booked it in the actual church room -- stained glass windows, curved ceilings, velvet seat-covered pews and all. It was actually a nice change of pace getting to sit for a three-hour-long show.
Laura Stevenson played a pretty sizable opening set that included staples of hers like "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "The Move," "Nervous Rex," "The Fire" and "Barnacles." She described most of them as simply "sad," but with a laugh that seemed to let the crowd know she's probably moved past whatever the song's sad subject referred to. She was also the only one of the three to sit for her set but she had the same anxious delivery and commanding voice that reverberated off the church walls well. The crowd seemed super polite and quiet during her set; you have to wonder if the church atmosphere provided a psychological influence on their behavior.
With little to set up, Kevin Devine walked on stage not much later and, keeping the banter to a minimum, proceeded to run through a good set of the obviously more stripped-back material off his catalog. He also played a cover of Nada Surf's "Inside of Love" (from the first volume of a forthcoming split series, this one with Nada Surf's Matthew Caws) which he called one of the most beautiful songs ever. That was actually preceded by a pseudo-cover of sorts as well, as he slid through the slow-paced "It Never Stops," off the second Bad Books album from 2012 (hard to believe that was more than two years ago already). "Hits" like "Just Stay," "Brooklyn Boy," "Ballgame" and "Brother's Blood" all sounded great, as they tend to, but especially noticeable was how strong Devine's voice was, full of his usual rasp but louder and fuller and on point than I can remember from other times I've seen him, with or without the Goddamn Band. (He turned down one particular song request saying he'd probably fuck it up, and could only laugh heartily when the audience member responded, "Wouldn't be the first time.") His little upward glances towards the vaulted ceilings during his Biblical or divine allusions were definitely amusing and delightfully self-aware. The highlight, of course, was the aforementioned, set-closing "Brother's Blood," with Devine stepping away from the mic and walking towards the back of the small stage, eyes clenched and howling out the bridge to raucous applause. A few attempted a standing ovation at set's end but the relaxed crowd, though warmly applauding, wasn't quite having it.
Set list (8:54-9:47):
Just Stay
Now: Navigate!
Private First Class
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Brooklyn Boy
Carnival
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She Can See Me
It Never Stops [Bad Books "cover"]
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Inside of Love [Nada Surf cover]
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Cotton Crush
Ballgame
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Brother's Blood
Into It. Over It.'s Evan Weiss, allotted just about 15 more minutes, was much more talkative, pausing between just about every song to give interesting banter and background. I've definitely heard some of the stories before, like how "Augusta, GA" regards an old friend stealing his dating ideas to woo his One That Got Away and that One documenting it all in a diary for him to read about. But it sounded like he was adding new wrinkles and more color than usual to illustrate just what these songs were actually about, and it really brought them to life. Even with his parents in the crowd (who he admitted had driven him here from another show he had just played in Philly with his reunited band the Progress), he was pretty revealing about his life. From dating an older married woman in an open relationship and bonding with her husband over '90s hardcore to specific lyrical choices (he would have written the line in "Midnight: Carroll Street" as "cocaine and nicotine" but didn't want his mom thinking he did coke), it was an interesting way to get to know more about him than usual. After all, I don't think he was playing hour-long sets before he started touring with a full band more heavily.
His actual set itself was good too, playing about half of 2013's Intersections (which is definitely a little more conducive to this setting than 2011's Proper, which he still played a third of) with a lighthearted vibe throughout things. Granted, with Intersections in the mix, it made it refreshingly different for anyone who saw his solo sets a few years back. Towards the end the requests started flooding forward, the most noise the crowd made all night. Weiss rejected most but did take one ("Augusta, GA"). Also, his voice cracked hard at one point and he made a little jab at himself for it after the song; but his headlining set this night, which he spoke of in big, humble terms, essentially deeming it one of his proudest moments in selling out a sorta hometown show, was otherwise delivered smoothly.
Set list (9:57-11:04):
The Frames That Used to Greet Me
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New North-Side Air
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Midnight: Carroll Street
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Raw Bar OBX 2002 [Everyone Everywhere cover]
P R O P E R
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Contractual Obligation
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Connecticut Steps
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22 Syllables
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Ravenswood
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The Shaking of Leaves
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Upstate Blues
No Good Before Noon
Spinning Thread
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Augusta, GA
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Anchor