Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

Matt Johnson brought The The to Oakland on the night of November 7^th for the Ensoulment Tour, and the sold out Gen X crowd couldn’t have been happier to witness two full sets with no opener divided by an intermission, which began with the new Ensoulment album, their first studio album in 25 years, and included lots of vintage favorites for a total of 27 songs over the course of a few hours.

Johnson was chatty throughout the evening, personable and humorous on stage in his compelling baritone voice designed for singing songs, or narrating documentaries, or doing whatever he wants to do with it because it’s blissful to hear. He said things like, “The eighties. What a horrible decade that was,” (sarcastically), and, “If I had a magical power I’d want to be able to be invisible, or time travel to Roman times or old Egypt. Unfortunately we’re limited to a few decades tonight.” And he did it – he took fans back joyously to the first time they heard “This Is The Day,” and “Uncertain Smile.” The evidence was everywhere in the venue, including the back of the room by the bar, where people danced in little circles and happily sang along.

He asked people to put their phones away and they mostly complied. Before playing “Heartland” he talked about the connection between past and future, commenting on the beauty of the Fox Theater and how the song was written about a changing London, and talked about his passion for old buildings, and suggested maybe the grandparents of people in the crowd had gone to the Fox and maybe their grandchildren will too, and how the connection of generations is important.

The first set with newer songs from Ensoulment got fans into a deep rhythm, where Johnson’s voice washed over the crowd and lulled everyone into a kind of trance. But it would be misleading to claim the majority weren’t waiting for the second half of the evening, Retrospective, which kicked off its 14-song segment with “Infected” to much cheering. We got, “Armageddon (Days Are Here Again),” “Love Is Stronger Than Death,” “This Is The Day,” and “Lonely Planet,” and then we got a two-song encore after a fake ending with “Uncertain Smile” and “GIANT.”

The The is a great band that has stood the test of time, one that doesn’t have as massive a following in the States as some other 80s-era bands, but those who know know, and we are all very happy they’re touring again.

There’s one more date in LA before the band heads to New Zealand, then Australia, then back to old Blighty – check out www.thethe.com for all the latest news and info.