Father John Misty07.31.25
Vancouver, BC
FJM has been on my concert bucket list for a long time. Not that I knew much about his live shows, but I've been a fan of his music for a while now. God's Favorite Customer came out right when I was first getting into indie music, and I loved the piano rock style he had going on with that one. Chloë and the Next 20th Century was definitely a departure and didn't stick with me as much, but still had some cool tracks that nailed the lounge vibe he was going for. But I can assure you, he is certainly back with Mahashmashana. So it was great to see him hit up the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver on the tail end of his North American tour.
So I believe Queen Elizabeth Theatre is typically a seated venue, and that was the case here. But the ticket prices for the lower orchestra section were actually quite reasonable, definitely accessible for most fans. I snagged a seat in the third row. Definitely made for an orderly experience, which I do have to admit is a nice change of pace from the usual standing room only shows I find myself at.
Hamilton Leithauser opened the show — I've heard his name before, but never his music. He was quite engaged and seemed genuinely excited to be there.
And for Josh's set, he admitted during the show that he was pretty gassed, with this stop being the last one on the West Coast leg of the tour, and apologized for the lack of banter. Not that it mattered much, because he and his band sounded fantastic, navigating all over his discography without missing a beat. I loved hearing "Total Entertainment Forever" and "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All ". I wasn't sure if he would get to those ones. But of course, the tracks from Mashashmashana were the highlights, particularly "Mental Health", "Screamland", and the genuinely sprawling title track played in its full glory. He played well past the 11:00 PM curfew, with a sizable encore set tying up some loose ends from his discography.
