Kurt Vile returned this year with new album Bottle It In (released via Matador Records), yet another mighty fine effort from the ever-reliable Philly singer-songwriter. He’s currently on tour in support of the new record, which included a two-night run at Brooklyn Steel.
We caught night two of the run on November 29th, which featured an opening performance from Frankie Cosmos, who we just saw at Bowery Ballroom back in October. They too are touring in support of their new album, Vessel, which was their first release for Sub Pop. They shared a handful of those songs during their set, along with a few new songs that they tested on the audience.
It was a year ago that we last caught a live performance from Vile, during his tour with Courtney Barnett, but it has been nearly two years since we’ve caught a performance from him along with The Violators. As Vile’s career has grown, he and the band’s live chops have only grown along with it, finding a strong balance between sounding loose and free, yet impeccably tight musicianship.
The setlist was mainly split between new offerings from Bottle It In as well as B’lieve I’m Goin Down…, with a few welcome old favorites for diehards thrown in-between to give the setlist a nice balanced feel. It’s quite remarkable how he and the band are able to shift gears between rocking guitar rock and some more jammy aspects that the lines almost become blurred between the two once you get lose and in the zone at his shows.
Find a full set of photos from both Kurt Vile and Frankie Cosmos below.
Frankie Cosmos:
Kurt Vile:
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