Yorn: ‘Just Another’ Great Show

9:30 Club, Washington D.C.

March 20

Recommended beverage

to go with this show:

Any dark, bold brew with a kick

Jersey boy Pete Yorn moved to California to pursue his music career and it paid off. He’s put out three albums on a major label, Columbia Records, and a few of his songs found their way onto movie soundtracks. But he has built up quite a fan base almost exclusively through relentless touring. This time out, he has been hitting clubs across America since early last year in support of his third and latest album, Nightcrawler.

He opened last night’s show with “Policies” from that album, a fitting choice for a Washington crowd. His 19-song set was equally split between his first and third albums, seven songs from each. Interestingly, the only song he played from his second album, Day I Forgot, was the last of the night, “Crystal Village,” probably the strongest song on what is his weakest album. His first album, Musicforthemorningafter, coincidentally was released on my birthday in 2001, and was quite the present, as I haven’t stopped listening to it since. I’d rate it one of the best albums, by anybody, in this decade.

The show’s highlight, for me, was the Beach Boys teaser, “Surfer Girl,” followed by “Murray,” which got the crowd pumped and they sang along to the “ah ah ah ah-ah-ah”s, which thrilled the ever-humble Yorn. He’s so humble, in fact, that when a girl in the crowd yelled, “Take off your sweater, Pete,” he shyly responded, “You take yours off,” then moved along.

He also told the crowd he wrote “The Man” not far from DC. That song, from the new album and also on his most recent EP, Westerns—which he didn’t pull anything else from last night—has a great folk-rock feel (dare I say country?) Though a departure from his usual alt-rock/Smiths-inspired pop, he masters the folk genre as well, a great testament to his versatility.


9:30 Club Setlist (pulled from his site)
Policies*
For Us*
Long Way Down
Just Another**
Undercover*
I Am The Cosmos (Chris Bell) > Closet**
Alive*
Life on a Chain**
Black**
Never My Love (The Association)
The Man*
Surfer Girl (The Beach Boys)
Murray**
How Do You Go On*
For Nancy**

Encore:
Strange Condition**
Ice Age*
Ever Fallen in Love (The Buzzcocks)
Crystal Village

*from most recent album, Nightcrawler
**from first album, Musicforthemorningafter