It’s not uncommon after a concert to hear a drunken attendee commenting on how great a show was. It’s not every day, however, that said drunken reveller utters the phrase, “Well that was fucking delightful.” Yet those very words were overheard after Wednesday nights’ Afghan Whigs show at The Phoenix. The same guy also referred to the show repeatedly as being “sexy.” I suppose he’s not wrong. As a band, Greg Dulli and co. do exude a certain amount of sexuality and charisma, all of it tempered with a healthy dose of darkness.
As I said, the band do have a whole lot of charisma onstage and put on one hell of an energetic, entertaining performance, thus proving that they do indeed still have the goods and are not simply going through the motions on a quick cash grab reunion. Along with stone cold classics like “Gentlemen” and “Debonair,” the band also threw in covers of Frank Ocean and Drake which covered the same thematic territory as the band’s own material. And their version of Ocean’s “Lovecrimes” sounded fantastic. Also impressive was the incorporation of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” into the band’s own “Turn On The Water.” When a fan up front requested the tune, Dulli seemed a bit amused at first. “How do you follow that up?” he wondered. When the fan seemingly proposed they call it a day after that song, Dulli responded that he’d be fine with that, “but you might want to ask these other people around here.” Thankfully, the set did not end after five songs and Dulli did indeed indulge the fan’s request, placing the song’s lyrics over a much darker, moody arrangement. “How you doing now, buddy?” he joked afterwards. It’s pretty safe to say that he was doing alright. In fact, he may have been feeling downright fucking delightful.
Setlist:
1.Crime Scene, Part One
2.I’m Her Slave
3.Uptown Again
4.What Jail is Like
5.Turn on the Water / Helter Skelter
6.When We Two Parted / Over My Dead Body
(Drake cover)
7.Gentlemen
8.Crazy
9.My Enemy
10.Somethin’ Hot
11.You My Flower
12.See and Don’t See
(Marie “Queenie” Lyons cover)
13.Lovecrimes
(Frank Ocean cover)
14.66
15.Debonair / Who Do You Love?
16.Fountain and Fairfax
Encore:
17.Bulletproof
18.Summer’s Kiss
19.Faded