About two months ago we discovered that Okkervil River were going to be playing the Melbourne Festival. Great! Here comes a Sydney sideshow. But wait, there was more. Lead singer and songwriter Will Sheff would be playing a sideshow. Plane tickets and hotel rooms were booked and we counted down the days. So, last night, Sunday night was the night. After a great weekend in Melbourne, we paid our first visit to the Toff in Town (great venue, btw) and for over an hour we were bewildered, enraptured and enriched by the bespectacled genius of Will Sheff.

But what would be play? Would be choose songs that the band doesn't play? Would be give us some older gems? Would he attack the new songs? Would he have any one play alongside him? Well, firstly he did fly solo. On his trusty acoustic, with two songs on piano. Plus the closing number on electric. As for the set list it was a combination of new and old and a few lesser played tunes thrown in to delight the captive audience. So many highlights, but these ones especially stood out. A delectable "A King and a Queen", an emotion charged "A Stone", the impossibly great "Red" and a powerhouse performance of "The President's Dead". He also tried his hand at big band sound tunes like "Unless It's Kicks" and "The Valley" (with iPod backing). They both worked very well indeed. But it was the main set closer "For Real" that stole the show. Hauntingly played out on piano, it was sheer power and dripped with emotion. An encore allowed us to show our well found appreciation for the night we had enjoyed. For Mr Sheff is a unique and talented man. A great writer. A great singer. A great.

Set List
Lay Of The Last Survivor
Plus Ones
A King and a Queen
Happy Hearts
Red
Your Past Life As a Blast
Wake and Be Fine
The President's Dead
I Guess We Lost
A Stone
Unless It's Kicks
The Valley
For Real

Love To A Monster
Our Live Is Not A Movie Or Maybe