A holiday season highlight is a “package” of “Best of the year” music lists from a loosely connected group of music fans. MJ Lenderman was near the top of many with his stellar 2024 release, Manning Fireworks. Although familiar to many in the area as a member of Asheville’s alt-country(ish) band, Wednesday, the rest of the world appears to just be catching up with his solo work.
He was originally slated to play last October at the more intimate Terminal West, but the performance was moved to Variety Playhouse due to fan interest, then postponed due to the hurricane damage in Asheville and the surrounding area. Three months later, he’s playing Variety Playhouse for two sold-out shows. This review is for his second show.
One fan noted before the show that she liked that his voice was authentic and struck a mood with his music that touched her. This would prove true through the evening, as Lenderman presented as a singer-songwriter, no pretenses, no stage theatrics, and a casual manner while singing and engaging the crowd. It’s all in the songs, thoughtful and often tinged with wit.
Fans of Manning Fireworks have to be pleased as all eight songs from the album are included in the set. He wisely asked for a show of hands from those who had attended the night before, and admitted that helped song decisions. Whether that was true or not, the band played six songs that they hadn’t before, probably most notably “Six Flags,” a song the band had played live before but not since they released it in 2022.
The final selections of the set took the band a different direction. “Bark at the Moon” contains an instrumental/experimental section at the end, and the band mined this with feedback, distortion, a guest sax and cymbal from opener Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse before moving to a cover of Smog’s “37 Push Ups.” Those, along with the finale of “Six Flags,” made it clear that the band can transition from an enjoyable interpretation of their recorded material to a much heavier sound, perfect for a live audience.
While conversation with the audience was fairly limited (we did learn he wasn’t good at his first job, at the restaurant at Atlanta’s botanical garden), he touched on the pulse of political winds with a comment that the world needs some love right now, and launched into a cover of Neil Young’s “Lotta Love.” Covering such a conventional pop song sounded somewhat out of place in his set, but his final two songs kept the audience in the theater and on their feet. His tour continues across the U.S. through the end of February. Catch him in an intimate venue while you can – his next tour will likely be in bigger spaces!
Setlist:
Encore:
Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse band closed out their run touring with Lenderman this night, a pairing that seems to have many dividends, as two members joined in selected songs for Lenderman, and keyboardist Trevor Nikrant played the entire set. The styles of both bands were complimentary, and Ryan Davis is a very engaging band leader, essentially a free spirit in terms of performance and having a great time while selling what he’s singing.
