Concert Review: The Church at The Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI 10/11/23
The Church came back to Michigan in their return to the states supporting The Hypnogogue and the “second volume” of the Hypnogogue - the new LP Eros Zeta And The Perfumed Guitars and I was excited for this one as I always am to see one of my favorite bands in an intimate venue. As I’ve written before here on the Snobbery The Church is perpetually and criminally under the radar in the rock world and yet the benefit of that is you don’t have to see them at a gargantuan venue at inflated and unreasonable prices.
The Church at The Magic Bag, Ferndale, Michigan 10/11/23
The guys have played in the state of Michigan 22 times - 18 on the east side of the state and by my count I’ve seen 12 of them (along with an acoustic Kilbey/Willson-Piper performance in Cleveland and a couple Marty Willson-Piper solo gigs over the years). Between The Ark in Ann Arbor, The Magic Stick in Detroit, 7th House in Pontiac (which no longer exists) and The Magic Bag in Ferndale I’m pretty sure The Magic Bag is the biggest, and it was sold out - packed house. Not only was it packed but it was the BEST audience I’ve seen for The Church which made me really happy to see. Totally plugged in and positively roaring with approval at the end of each song. I’ve seen on at least two occasions a drunken idiot or two standing up front and damaging the vibe to the point where leader Steve Kilbey had to threaten to have one tossed out. I saw the power go out on them during the song Night Friends at the Magic Stick once - I’d never seen that at any concert. I don’t point these out to say that Church concerts are usually a trainwreck or anything - far from it. They are always professional, always sound great no matter who is in the lineup. I guess my point is simply this time everything was perfect. And it was glorious.
The lineup of band members has not been stable over the last 10 years after a 16 year period of no lineup changes, but under the steady leadership of Kilbey the music hasn’t suffered and the current group is really fantastic. More of an all star lineup really which speaks to the immense respect this outfit has garnered over the band’s 43 year history. Truly accomplished players who have checked any ego they may have been entitled to musically at the door to create music in the vein and vibe that is appropriate for The Church without being stagnant in any way. It’s a perfect blend and while I love and even still miss Peter Koppes and MWP I also don’t miss them at the same time if that makes sense. Ashley Naylor, Jeffrey Cain and Ian Haug all have their own bodies of work that I’ve been discovering lately and they all are clearly happy playing together and being in this band.
Jeffrey Cain sits at the back of the stage just as he did while he was an unofficial touring member for a couple years - he’s always great and kind of the Swiss Army Knife adding multiple guitars, backing vocals and keys whether piano or synth patches on his keyboard - he even broke out the vibra slap for the rattle sound on the iconic Reptile. His former band was Remy Zero, as well as releasing the fine LP under the name Dead Snares and he’s the other half of the fantastic side project Isidore with Steve Kilbey.
Ashley Naylor was right in front of me to the left of the stage - his band Even was very successful for years in Australia and I’m digging his recent solo work as well. He played electric guitar most of the night providing leads here and there, background vocals and even a snippet of lead vocal. Talented dude.
Ian Haug is a veteran by now and has recorded on the last 4 Church albums as a member of the band for 10 years replacing Marty Willson-Piper. He used quite a few guitars and his playing on the mandolin was sublime. I’ve met Ian and he’s a sweetheart of a guy - his band Powderfinger also had a long successful run in Australia.
Tim Powles is the official drummer and studio wizard - he has not been playing on this leg of the tour - I’ve heard he had trouble with his travel visa (?) but I don’t know the facts so don’t quote me. He’s an incredible player, but Nicholas Meredith filled in and did an amazing job. Kilbey had a little fun introducing him saying he lives such a wild lifestyle and that they had to promise his parole officer that they would keep him out of trouble. Haha…
As for some highlights of the show:
Steve Kilbey is clearly in such a great place. He charmed the crowd and told the story of The Hypnogogue to set up the songs from the new album in such vivid storytelling fashion that he has definitely brought me to a new level of understanding for songs such as Flickering Lights, Albert Ross (the poor drum tech to Eros Zeta who gets lost in The Hypnogogue), No Other You (the love song written to a cab driver in Korea in 2054 - the year the tale takes place), Antarctica (Eros’ home and a “prime piece of real estate” in the future that Kilbey suggested we get in on now), C’est La Vie (a managerial piece of advice - yes band managers are still alive in 2054) along with Ascendence, the epic title track, I Think I Knew, Second Bridge and Last Melody and Realm Of Minor Angels from the new CD. All in all 10 songs from Eros Zeta’s odyssey to and with the Hynogogue. They all sat well in a live setting mixed in and alongside of the many classics they also performed.
I was making little notes to myself during the show - one of them was in a moment I had where I typed “They don’t just play the songs - they create the songs anew for the audience.” I really feel this with The Church and the energy this crowd gave them took it to a whole new level. On a much smaller scale as a singer in a cover band I can attest to how much the energy feeds a performance. And a funny moment happened where someone yelled out not “Free Bird” but “Custard Pie!!!” Steve stopped mid thought and said “Okay I’ve heard lots of things - I haven’t heard that” to laughter from the crowd. The whole night and the performances felt so organic and not by the numbers. I could tell they knew this night was special - I swear I caught Steve at one point stepping to the mic in between songs to speak but pausing for a few extra seconds to simply smile and savor the moment. I’m not sure I’ve seen him moved quite like that before, and he deserved all of it. A true artist who is compelled to create, to write, to paint, to perform - he never stops. Like, ever. And his Instagram livestreams during the scariest phase of the pandemic helped me feel connected to the world - to other fans who joined together around the globe to watch him play in real time while we were locked down away from each other. I’ll always be thankful for that gift he gave us.
But back to the show and the classics - I knew we were going to get a great dose of faves when they launched right into Destination after introducing The Hypnogogue with the opener of Ascendence. It was a great way to remind me with a strong wave of nostalgia of why this band became so important to me when I first heard the album Starfish - my first real exposure to the band in 1988 as a 17 year old. Kilbey loves to joke about Metropolis being “their last darkening of the airwaves of commercial radio” and he made similar jokes about how the time has come to play “that song” Under The Milky Way and I think he said “thank God that’s over” after playing their very first hit The Unguarded Moment (?) lol… But it was all tongue in cheek because they didn’t cheat any of those three songs - kicking ass on all of them.
Other highlights for me included Kings - they gave it the full measure of majesty it deserves and one of my favorite moments of the night. Hotel Womb was fantastic, and the last three songs of the first set were all acoustic with Cain, Naylor, and Haug all playing 12 string guitars at once at one point and Old Coast Road was a real unexpected highlight here. The encore was amazing - especially You Took which felt like a 15 minute version with the crowd providing the hand clap percussion during an extended instrumental part in the middle. What a moment.
What a night.
Here’s the setlist:
Set 1:
Set 2:
Encore:
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