Cate Le Bon released her terrific new album Pompeii on Friday, and started her North American tour for it on Sunday night in Woodstock. After that, she headed to NYC for two sold-out shows at Bowery Ballroom. I caught the first night and pictures from night 2, along with setlists for both, are in this post.
Bathed in pink, purple and green lights, and playing a cool dayglo-orange, custom-built, and very new-wavy-looking guitar, Cate seemed like she beamed in from 1979, which fits the vibe of Pompeii, which at times has a very Berlin-period Bowie vibe. Cate and her band -- regular collaborator Euan Hinshelwood on sax, keyboards and guitar, Toko Yasuda (The Van Pelt, Enon) on bass, Dylan Hadley (White Fence) on drums, and Alex Morrison on keyboards and guitar -- played every song from the album, as well as about half of 2019's Reward. Fans of anything before that were out of luck, but no one seemed to mind at Tuesday's show, which had large swaths of the crowd singing along to most of songs. They really sounded fantastic.
Tuesday night's encore was a cover of Paul McCartney's "Waterfalls," and on Wednesday night she brought out Parquet Courts' Andrew Savage (who I spotted at in the crowd at Tuesday's show) and Austin Brown to cover Bill Nelson's "Do You Dream in Colour?" Video of the Bill Nelson cover, as well as the Paul McCartney cover from the Woodstock show, are below.
Mega Bog is opening on this tour and is well matched with Cate (If you haven't checked out last year's Life, And Another, it's great). Using a headset mic and accompanied by a keyboardist, Erin Birgy had a magnetic stage presence, even while working out the kinks of her first shows using an old school drum machine. "When you replace your band with old junky boxes it just doesn’t feel the same," she said.
While in town, Cate and the band stopped by WNYC's Soundcheck to play a few songs and talk with host John Schafer, and you can watch that below, too.
Cate and Mega Bog's next stop is Cleveland on Friday (2/11). All tour dates are listed below.
SETLIST: Cate Le Bon @ Bowery Ballroom 2/9/2022 Dirt on the Bed French Boys Moderation Daylight Matters Pompeii Running Away Cry Me Old Trouble Mother's Mother's Magazines Magnificent Gestures Harbour Miami The Light Home to You Remembering Me Wheel
Encore: Do You Dream in Colour (Bill Nelson cover with Andrew Savage and Austin Brown)
SETLIST: Cate Le Bon @ Bowery Ballroom 2/8/2022 Dirt on the Bed French Boys Moderation Daylight Matters Pompeii Running Away Cry Me Old Trouble Mother's Mother's Magazines Magnificent Gestures Harbour Miami The Light Home to You Remembering Me Wheel
Encore: Waterfalls (Paul McCartney cover)
CATE LE BON - 2022 TOUR DATES Fri. Feb. 11 - Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop Sat. Feb. 12 - Columbus, OH @ Natalie’s Grandview Mon. Feb. 14 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Wed. Feb. 16 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Thu. Feb. 17 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Sat. Feb. 19 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall Sun. Feb. 20 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ The Rock / SLO Brew Music Hall Thu. Feb. 24 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Sat. Feb. 26 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy’s (Sold Out) Mon. March 14 - Southampton, UK @ Engine Rooms Tue. March 15 - London, UK @ Hackney Empire Wed. March 16 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Thu. March 17 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio Fri. March 18 - Belfast, UK @ Empire Music Hall Sat. March 19 - Dublin, IE @ The National Concert Hall Mon. March 21 - Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club Tue. March 22 - Leeds, UK @ Irish Centre Wed. March 23 - Birmingham, UK @ The Mill Mon. March 28 - Lille, FR @ L’Aeronef Tue. March 29 - Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie Thu. March 31 - Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne Fri. April 1 - Zurich, CH @ Bogen F Sat. April 2 - Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur Sun. April 3 - Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz Tue. April 5 - Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club Wed. April 6 - Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher Thu. April 7 - Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan/Hus 7 Fri. April 8 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Sat. April 9 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Mon. April 11 - Brussels, BE @ AB Box Tue. April 12 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso