Feist brought her tour de force Multitudes tour to NYC (pics, video, setlist)
"Well, Multitudes was also a tour before it became a record, and the tour was a real stretch for me and something I'd wanted to do for a long time, which was sort of thwart the expected setup of what a show is, what an exchange of audience and the person delivering the story and the people listening to the story is.
I've had some shows that just turn on their heel and become something so different than what that norm is. Sort of like a collective is created in which I'm receiving as much as I think people usually do when they're just in an audience, you know? " -Feist [Radio Milwaukee]
Feist returned with her fantastic new album Multitudes in April, and earlier this month she began her North American tour supporting it, which stopped in NYC for two nights at Brooklyn Steel over the weekend. She conceived the Multitude shows and developed them with artist and filmmaker Colby Richardson, artist Heather Goodchild, and artistic producer Mary Hickson, who also worked on the videos for album singles "Borrow Trouble" and "Hiding out in the Open." They brought the same kind of surreal, fractured aesthetic to the shows, particularly the first act, where Feist performed on a small circular stage in the middle of the floor after entering through the crowd, video camera in hand. The camera projected a live view of wherever it was pointed onto a screen on the stage, sometimes true to life, sometimes altered, and after a few songs with it directed on the stage, Feist handed it off to Colby, who took it back into the crowd, filming shoes, clothing patterns, drink glasses, wires, ceiling tiles and more before refocusing on Feist herself, for views that grew more multiplied and warped as the set progressed. The visuals stood in contrast to the warmth of Feist's solo set, which had her talking to people in the crowd, giving hugs and shaking hands between delivering gorgeous renditions of "Century," "Gatekeeper," "A Man Is Not His Song," "Forever Before," and more.
After "The Bad in Each Other," during which Colby's camera focused on a notebook being slid out of a bag, the set took a turn towards performance art as Feist appeared to agonize over where the notebook came from and whether she should open it and read from it (she wondered aloud at one point if this would be the end of her career). She finally did, delivering a stirring reading of a poem and leaving the small stage for the main one as she segued into a performance of "I Took All Of My Rings Off" with her four-piece band behind her. At this point the show transformed into more of a traditional rock show, with Feist playing some favorites from throughout her career -- including "My Moon My Man," "Sealion," I Feel It All," and a markedly reworked version of "1234." She closed the night with a beautifully melancholy rendition of "Love Who We Are Meant To" with lyrics from the notebook from earlier in the night projected onto a screen.
The whole evening was a moving, tour-de-force audio-visual experience that allowed Feist to shine through a whole host of different perspectives, while maintaining an intimate, communal feel. A show not to be missed. Check out pictures and the setlist from night one, and attendee-taken video clips from both nights below.
SETLIST: FEIST @ BROOKLYN STEEL, 5/13/2023
SET 1:
Century
Gatekeeper
The Redwing
A Man Is Not His Song
Forever Before
Martyr Moves
The Bad in Each Other
SET 2:
I Took All Of My Rings Off
In Lightning
My Moon My Man
A Commotion
Any Party
Hiding Out in the Open
Calling All the Gods
Borrow Trouble
Sealion
I Feel It All
1234
Let It Die
Encore:
Of Womankind
Love Who We Are Meant To