Shakey Graves rolled into Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 4th, the first night of his tour supporting his new album Fondness, Etc. It just so happens that the first night of his tour also happened to be his birthday, which he joked was his 21st.
The show offered a mix of fan favorites, stories behind the songs, and plenty of laughs between performances. We’re going to take a look at the night and hit some highlights, as well as have a look at the setlist so people can see what songs they can expect on the Fondness, Etc. tour.
See our Fondness, Etc. album review here
Shakey Graves Tour Dates/Tickets
Shakey opened up the show with one of my personal favorites, Nobody’s Fool. There’s something about the song that just hits for me, especially stripped down the way he plays it.
Before going into Counting Sheep, he dedicated the song to “friends who can’t be here, and ones I’ll never get to see again”, with a slight hint of sorrow in his voice.
Shakey expressed the idea behind the song Tomorrow started out with what he thought was a love song when he was initially writing it, But as time passed he realized that it wasn’t about love at all. It was more about someone who can’t commit to love, or much of anything else.
Years later, he realized it was now about potentially ruining his daughter’s life and the anxiety he feels behind that thought. He even joked he since he’s a dad now he is tucking in his shirts while wearing dad jeans that are bleach stained.
Much like for us where the songs we love can change meaning depending on where we are in life, the same goes for the ones who write them as well.
Someone threw a watch on stage before he played Built to Roam –
“Is this a birthday Present?
I’ll take it. It’s either a really, really good watch or a really, really shitty one. I can’t tell yet, but we’ll see though”
Before going in the widely popular song Dearly Departed, he joked that every time he comes to Tulsa he thinks of the time he was there and confusingly said to the crowd “Thank you Oklahoma City!” which he said was met with tons of boos of course. He laughed hysterically about it then went into the song.
At this point in the show, Shakey joked that he was going to try to summon the band to come back on stage. He started a low moaning sound, in which the bass player came on stage with a cake that had a single candle lit, with the writing “Happy Birthday Boss” on it. And of course it was a trick candle that immediately lit back up after being blown out.
After the cake, toasting, and a new more enthusiastic round of Happy Birthday from the crowd (Shakey told them “But they already sang happy birthday to me guys”) they went into the song Look Alive from the EP with the same name.
Don’t Change A Thing, Boilermaker, and On My Own ended the night, all fantastic songs from the Fondness, Etc. album.
After much coaxing to come back on stage, Shakey came back for a two song encore with No Place to Be, and Late July.
It was a great night at Cains Ballroom and I hope you all get to see him with a backing band on this tour. I’ve seen Shakey Graves several times over the years, but there was something different about this performance. Whether it’s fatherhood, a new album, and/or simply where he is in life, he seemed genuinely relaxed and happy on stage. That energy carried throughout the night and made for a memorable opening stop on the Fondness, Etc. tour.
