It’s hard to believe that Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy was released over 10 years ago. I still remember discovering the album at the age of 15 and being oddly charmed by it’s honest approach that wasn’t quite like most things I used to listen to at the time. It definitely was an important album for my future listening habits and it still holds up incredibly well to this day.
Sheff re-released a special edition of Black Sheep Boy to celebrate the tenth anniversary, giving us some new rarities and b-sides from the era. He ended up selling out three nights of Bowery to perform the album, and I caught the second night on November 22.
He kicked off the set with some acoustic pre-Black Sheep Boy songs before diving into the album, with a surprise appearance from former Okkervil River member, Jonathan Meiburg (now frontman of Shearwater), who joined them right before they kicked into “Black,” the song that introduced me to the band. Getting to hear “Black” and the rest of its brethren was a trip down memory lane, a revisit to all those early memories that I formed while this album was a major presence in my life. Getting to hear them played live to an enthusiastic crowd that sang back nearly every word was just the cherry on top.
Find some more photos from Okkervil River’s performance posted below (there was no opener):
Join the conversation