With Papadosio’s new album Extras in a Movie dropping only a couple of days ago (Read the review here), the band has hit the road for the fall tour in support of the release. Tuesday night, the band stopped in Madison, WI at the Majestic Theater. Many in attendance were eagerly discussing the new album, picking out which tracks were their personal favorites before the band took the stage.
Expectedly, Papadosio played many numbers from the new release. Unexpectedly, the group sounded very comfortable, as if the new songs had been played hundreds of times before instead of just once or twice. The show started off with a more ambient Extras tune, “Therian”. The song doesn’t sound like a typical opener but the crowd enjoyed it. A fairly standard “Improbability Blotter” followed. From there, the show completely caught fire.
“We Can Always Come Back” followed, another track from Extras. The studio version has a beautiful ending where the song switches gears from a slower, offbeat time signature to a much more uptempo and blissful piano ending , but this only lasts thirty seconds or so. In the live setting, however, they stuck with the progression, drawing it out much longer, playing with it, until they finally ended the song. It was great to see not only one of the new songs played extremely tightly, but also featuring quality improvisation.
“How Not to Float” was similar in that the ending also featured extended improvisation. It was a very danceable jam that was deliberately peppered with the introductory notes of “Direction Song”. The segue was obvious, but they kept jamming it out and teasing those notes until singer Anthony Thogmartin finally belted, “Give me some direction…” The concertgoers couldn’t have been smiling and nodding any more.
Other new songs “Ritual” and “Bypass Default” were performed flawlessly, confirming the new material’s place in the rotation, but it was the “Epiphany” encore that sealed the deal. Before the show, the crowd was buzzing about the song’s aesthetically awesome music video, and the band projected still images and clips of the Muppets from the video as they performed. The crowd played along, mimicking gestures in synchronization with the clip. It was an excellent encore to an excellent show.
Without a doubt, the new material that Papadosio is introducing is as strong (if not better!) as their older songs. As a longtime fan of the band, I never thought a show with no songs from Magreenery and only two from Observations would be so awesome; a true testament to the strength of Extras In A Movie. Good times ahead for Papadosio.
Setlist: Papadosio at The Majestic Theater, Madison, WI – 10/6/15
One Set: Therian, Improbability Blotter, We Can Always Come Back, How Not To Float, Direction Song, Ritual, Geoglyph, Bypass Default, New Love
Encore: Epiphany
