MJ Lenderman and the Wind @ The Aggie Theater

The Aggie Theater transformed into the “himbo dome” this past wednesday when MJ Lenderman rolled through. The North Carolina native has been touring his most recent album “Manning Fireworks” over the last few weeks and we were lucky enough to attend his show in Fort Collins. The venue smelled of nag champa incense through the show, maybe to cover the ever lingering smell of weed and beer, or to make the crowd feel at home. Prior to MJ’s set, Wild Pink, New York indie rock band, warmed up the bustling crowd, playing about 45 mins of their own tunes. 

Lenderman dawned the stage with his band The Wind, composed of Xandy Chelmis on the pedal steel, Landon George on the bass, Colin Miller on drums, Jon Samuels on guitar, and Ethan Baechtold on the keys, cowbell and shaker. Maybe one of my favorite additions to live bands are pedal steel and fiddles, and luckily, we got both! His mix of folk influence with the brasher tones of indie rock music make for a great pairing. He kicked off the night with ‘Pianos’ from the Hurricane Helene Relief compilation album “Cardinals”. The sold out crowd managed to both pack in like sardines while also giving people space to move and pop along to the music during the faster paced songs. The rest of the setlist consisted of all of “Manning Fireworks” and a good handful from “Boat Songs”.The crowd on the barricade knew every single song, dancing with each other all night. My personal favorite song “Wristwatch” had the audience singing the loudest along to the silliest lyric, “I have a house boat docked at the himbodome”. I just adore how imaginative that lyric is, you can almost see the massive amphitheater filled to the brim with himbos interacting with each other. Right before the band departed for the encore, they performed ‘Bark at the Moon’, a 10 minute piece about the aftermath of distance growing between two people. I almost forgot how moving live music can be, during the 7 minute stretch of song compiled of gnashing chords and chaos. I was overwhelmed with a sense of anxiety. In a way I felt woken up by the experience, letting the music vibrate up from the floor and wash over me. My nervous system could barely tell the difference between hearing ‘Bark at the Moon’ live and that pre panic attack feeling.

Upon returning to the stage, Landon revved the crowd up once more for a final 2 songs, letting us know that their manager claimed we were the loudest crowd of the tour this far. While I'm sure so many people tell their crowds they were the loudest, the smirk on Jake’s face and sincerity in his voice solidified it. The encore consisted of a cover of ‘Uncle Disney’ by Patterson Hood and his 2023 single ‘Knockin’. 

If you are just left wanting more or if you missed out on any of MJ’s Colorado dates on this leg of the tour, don’t be too sad. Lenderman will be coming back to Mission Ballroom on September 3rd with Nap Eyes.