Father John Misty put on an absolutely awe inspiring performance for the Oakland crowd on the second and final night of his 2 night stint at the Fox Theater. The man oozed charisma as he absolutely owned every inch of the stage. His mannerisms drew back to vintage rock and roll as he strut like a 6ft plus bearded hybrid of Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison with more passion in his voice and lyrics. He really allowed himself to feel the music as he danced, sang, and at times threw himself wildly around the stage. He even had a moment where he got a bit too into the moment and fell face first from his bass drum as the mic loudly smacked the stage. He showed his ironic sense of humor when he drew back to this moment in one of his sparse talk break. He stated “as I felt myself falling from that bass drum all I could think was ‘why was I drunk in the parking lot of an Embassy Suites at 7 am?” He showed more of his deadpan comedic stylings when he recalled an embarrassing moment. He had been asked if he was the frontman for the counting crows, and soon realized the fan must have meant Chris Robinson from the black crowes. That was “the worst moment of (his) life.”
The stage lighting was extremely theatrical. The lighting effectively portrayed the tone of each song whether it was a single spotlight for heartfelt ballads like “bored in the USA,” soft pink mood lighting for “true affection,” or colorful strobe backlighting for heavier tracks like “ideal husband.” He managed to squeeze about 20 songs into his setlist playing nearly every track off his 2 album discography and even squeezing a cover of Rihanna’s “kiss it better” into his encore. Perhaps the most impressive part of the show was the way he managed to create a grand spectacle, but also make it feel like a very intimate experience.