PHOTOS: DeVotchKa shows ‘How it Ends’ at Great American Music Hall
DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024. Tyler Wong/STAFF
SAN FRANCISCO — DeVotchKa brought their energetic show to Great American Music Hall on Thursday in the midst of their How It Ends 20th Anniversary Tour, marking a milestone for their celebrated album.
In its 16-song set for the well-attended show, the Denver quartet that came up playing Gypsy punk and pop at burlesque shows focused not only on its 2004 debut but also 2011’s 100 Lovers and 2008’s A Mad And Faithful Telling.
Band leader and singer-guitarist Nick Urata led his bandmates—who sometimes played trumpet, accordion, violin, cello, keys, stand-up bass and even a tuba—through songs like “No One Is Watching” and “Dearly Departed. Many songs featured sensual violin solos, with on-stage dance moves by Urata to boot.
“This is a lot cooler than the first time we performed here,” said the frontman, noting that his band performed at the historic venue 22 years earlier.
The band brought the main set to a close on a slower and smoother note with “Gypsy Jam” and “This Play Is Haunted” before walking off stage. The band saved the title track from its 2004 album, which helped give the band a larger audience after being featured in the film “Everything Is Illuminated,” to the very end. The encore also included “Straight Shot,” “All the Sand in All the Sea,” “The Clockwise Witness” and “Contrabanda.”
Dream-pop artist Moondaddy opened the show with songs like “Angel” and “Lover’s Eye,” from her latest album, 2023’s Poet Lies.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024. Tyler Wong/STAFF
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024. Tyler Wong/STAFF
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- DeVotchKa performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- Moondaddy performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- Moondaddy performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
- Moondaddy performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 28, 2024.
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