Photos + Article by Anthony Bauer
It’s quite difficult to process the amount of albums that are hitting unfathomable anniversaries and one of those albums is Everything All The Time from Band of Horses which somehow turns 20 this year. The band is currently out on the road touring as part of the celebration, billed as “An evening with Band of Horses” that sees no openers, but two full sets. Set one is Everything All The Time straight through, and a second set of whatever else they feel like playing so no two nights of tour are the same. On Thursday, April 16th the band made their return to the Capitol Theatre for an incredibly special night of music.
The first time I heard Band of Horses was in a skateboarding video and after that video dropped I immediately knew I needed to hear more. You also have to remember something… this was early 2000’s where streaming or Shazam didn’t exist so you truly had to do some detective work to find the songs and bands you wanted to listen to. That moment of discovery felt so invigorating and I vividly remember buying the Everything All The Time CD and listening to it non-stop in my car in spring of 2006. Saying that sentence now sounds like a trip but fast forward 20 years later and to get the opportunity to hear the album be played in full at one of the best venues in the country was a match made in heaven.
I’ve been lucky enough to see the band a few times (oddly enough all at The Capitol Theatre dating back to 2018) and while I have heard some of these songs mixed into their set, getting to hear the album in order in its entirety was a total trip. I almost forgot how much it rips literally right out of the gate. They may take the cake for most potent 1-2-3-4 opening punch of the early 2000’s with “The First Song,” “Wicked Gil,” “Our Swords,” into “The Funeral.” Seriously its an insane run of songs and then later hearing “The Great Salt Lake” into the ever-crowd pleaser “Weed Party” was also amazing. What makes the album so great is that it embodies everything that makes Band of Horses such a great band: it is that perfect blend of indie-rock with a little southern-folk and even a tiny bit of grunge-rock mixed in that only they have mastered and in a live setting is on a totally different level.
The other thing I was excited about with this show was the entire second set which was a few songs longer than the first but features plenty of fan-favorites and even some songs I wasn’t expecting them to play. Thats part of the beauty of this tour, the second set is a wildcard as previous setlists from the tour are not consistent – it truly is what they feel like playing on the day of and that is what makes not only the band and tour so special, but live music in general.
The older I get the more I realize the importance of live music, especially when it comes to these types of anniversary shows celebrating such monumental and important albums. Sometimes you see a show like this get announced and think to yourself “they’ll be back” or “they always play those songs” but.. what you have to realize is.. they never play the album in full from top to bottom. Shows like this are special, and if you are ever on the fence, don’t be – just go.
Do yourself a favor and go see this tour while you can, you won’t be sorry.
Find a full gallery and setlist from Band of Horses below.
Band of Horses setlist:
Set 1 – Everything all The Time:
1. The First Song
2. Wicket Gil
3. Our Swords
4. The Funeral
5. Part One
6. The Great Salt Lake
7. Weed Party
8. I Go to the Barn Because I Like The
9. Monsters
10. St. Augustine
Set 2 (thanks to @iamnysports on Instagram for the setlist):
11. Is There A Ghost
12. NW Apt.
13. Too Soon
14. Casual
15. No One’s Gonna Love You
16. Infinite Arms
17. Belle
18. Laredo
19. Lil Suspect
20. Crutch
21. Ode to LRC
22. Writers
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