Minus the Bear brought their farewell tour to NYC with Caspian (pics, setlist)
Minus the Bear are calling it quits after 17 years, six albums, and several EPs with one last EP and a farewell tour. The tour hit NYC for Irving Plaza shows on Saturday (10/28) and Sunday (10/29), and they saw MTB playing career-spanning sets with new song “Fair Enough” and tons of other faves like “Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse,” “Let’s Play Guitar In A Five Guitar Band,” “Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister,” “Lemurs, Man, Lemurs,” “Fine + 2 Pts,” “I’m Totally Not Down with Rob’s Alien,” “Drilling,” “Pachuca Sunrise,” “The Fix,” “The Game Needed Me,” “This Ain’t A Surfin’ Movie,” “Knights, Throwin’ Shapes,” “White Mystery,” “My Time,” “Into the Mirror,” and more. They played for about an hour and 45 minutes, sounded great as ever, and had most of the crowd singing along all night.
Opening were post-rockers Caspian, who also sounded awesome — our only complaint was we wish they could’ve played longer. Pictures of Sunday’s show are in the gallery above, and you can check out Saturday’s setlist and some videos below.
Here’s an excerpt of Cleveland Scene‘s review of the Cleveland show:
After Minus the Bear threw down an absolute heater of a final set at the Agora last night, they walked off the stage to roaring cheers and applause. Just a total, ecstatic din. My buddy Josh—and we were standing about midway up the tiered theater—he started chanting “MTB! MTB! MTB!” Reveling in the moment, a few of us around him joined in too. “MTB! MTB! MTB!” Then, a few more people. Then, waves of chanting cascades down to the pit and across the other levels of the room. “MTB! MTB! MTB!” A chorus of enthusiasm.
The ripple effect was incredible. We’d been going to see Minus the Bear for years, and, now, with just one encore left, that was all over.
[…] When singer Jake Snider came back out with the rest of the band, for one last encore in Cleveland, he stepped to the mic and said, “That’s Josh, and he lives here!” And I swear, it seemed like he was pointing out my friend, one of the many people who’ve been coming to these shows for years, and the one guy who got the roaring MTB! chant going from the start. The chapter had come full circle.
He wasn’t, though. Snider, of course, was pointing to drummer Josh Sparks, who joined the band as a touring member last year and who, yes, lives in Cleveland now. The crowd cheered in support, and Minus the Bear kicked off a thrilling encore that culminated in “Pachuca Sunrise,” the 2005 single that got the band closest to what one might call a degree of mainstream success.
The entire setlist was a brilliant sojourn across 17 years of canon. New stuff, old stuff. The band even released one last EP yesterday, and they played one of those tunes.
You can read more here.
Minus the Bear at Irving Plaza – 10/28/18 Setlist (via)
Drilling
Last Kiss
Lemurs, Man, Lemurs
Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse
Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister
Diamond Lightning
My Time
Summer Angel
Cold Company
Fair Enough
The Fix
Fine + 2 Pts
I’m Totally Not Down With Rob’s Alien
This Ain’t a Surfin’ Movie
The Game Needed Me
Invisible
White Mystery
We Are Not a Football Team
Knights
Let’s Play Guitar In A Five Guitar Band
Encore:
Part 2
Into the Mirror
Throwin’ Shapes
Pachuca Sunrise
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photos by Greg Cristman
