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The The returned to touring in 2018 after a 17-year hiatus, and now, six years later, it’s time for fans to feast not only a rare opportunity to see the band live but also catch their phenomenal new album, Unsoulment, in its entirety in the first of two sets.
Except the drummer, the band includes the members that Johnson chose for the previous tour, and it’s that band that recorded the new album. It’s a very faithful recreation of that album including the sequencing, and Johnson introduced it as a “listening set.” Absolutely right. And worth it.
It was obvious that a good number of fans were not as familiar with the new material, but ultimately they caught on to the expertly crafted material. On recording, you won’t hear a better produced or mixed album this year, and the lyrics are, if not more mature, more reflective of Johnson’s more recent life experience and observations. Whichever songs you prefer on the album, you’ll probably prefer live. For me, it was “Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the grave of William Blake,” “Life After Life,” “Risin’ Above the Need” and “Where Do We Go When We Die.”
After a 15-minute or so break, the band returned to play the older songs, a more rocking selection, not quite as they were, but reinterpreted to smaller or larger degrees. Opinions may vary, but like Sinatra or Cohen, Johnson’s voice has changed over the years, and his even deeper baritone range transforms the older songs with a welcome measure of maturity as well.
Johnson didn’t interact much with the crowd, referring to how old he was when he wrote a song or the year it was written. It didn’t matter as the crowd was enthusiastic through the set. After the first encore, “Uncertain Smile,” featuring some great keyboards by DC Collard, the band got to hear just how loud Tabernacle get can as they roared their appreciation.
“Only one song can possibly follow that song,” Johnson added. Then the synth notes for “GIANT” rang out, the apex of the show before the crowd exited for the streets.
Setlist:
Set 1:
Set 2:
Encore:
THE THE
THE The
The THE
The The
The = thuh
The = Thee
Per “internet knows all,” the pronunciation of “the” depends on whether a consonant or vowel follows it. As the first “The” is followed by “The” – the t being a consonant, the band’s name should be pronounced thuh thee, unless, course, Matt Johnson says otherwise.
