Kicking off the first night of a two night stand at the historic Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Father John Misty commanded the stage for legitimately one of the best shows we’ve ever witnessed. Thankfully, we were front and center to recount the night, so please read on for our full review and check out our photo gallery below.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to witness any show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, there’s always at least a little bit of eeriness, mainly because you’re surrounded by dead people. However, it continues to be one of the best concert venues in Los Angeles due to your ability to bring in food, drinks, and much more for a picnic setting. We arrived right at doors open around 6PM and set up a nice dinner and drinks and sat there through the opener Suki Waterhouse’s set. While a tad unfamiliar with her music, she managed to seriously impress us with her dynamic vocals and killer back-up band. In our opinion, the perfect music to have a picnic to.

Now for the main event, Father John Misty graced us with his presence and opened up with one of our favorites from Chloë and the Next 20th Century, “Q4”. Having a mini orchestra in tow with him, those strings hit wonderfully as always, and before you knew it, we were off to the races for two fully packed hours of live music, witty banter, and a crowd that was a 10/10. Now we’re about to write what you’re all thinking, oh my goodness, did he play “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”? Oh yes, yes he did, and put it number three in the setlist which we actually found a little bit surprising. We thought maybe he’d close with it, but honestly what an absolute trip to hear that go down, so meta!

We had the chance to see him earlier this year at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and thought that for some reason it might not live up considering the lack of the LA Philharmonic. In this case though, we were a lot closer and the songs still hit just as hard. He ripped through the classics with ease like “Nancy From Now On”, “I Love You, Honeybear”, and “Hangout at the Gallows”, but undoubtedly our favorite of the night was getting to finally hear “The Next 20th Century” live! It’s probably been our most played off of Chloë and that guitar solo towards the beginning simply reverberated off of all the graves in the cemetery.

While we try to relive the greatness of the night, and maybe even look for a ticket for Night 2, let this be the sentiment to grab a ticket to any of his shows while on this tour. The man is still in his prime and delivering on the most powerhouse performances of any live act we know of. If he comes within a 5 hour driving radius, you better believe we’ll be there. In the meantime, please check out some of our pictures of the night below. Enjoy!

Like what you read? Follow our social media and playlist for the latest in independent music:

Father John Misty Awakens the Dead at Hollywood Forever Cemetery