Tegan and Sara were appreciated by Albany, NY last month when they came to the Upstate Concert Hall, the first time they've visited since the duo released So Jealous, which was in 2004...literally almost a decade ago. "We need to come to Albany more," Tegan Quin declared after playing the first couple songs of sisters' set, which were mostly from their newest accomplishement, Heartthrob, their seventh studio album and most successful in terms of sales, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Even though they played almost every song from Heartthrob that night, the girls also stuck to their roots, playing the infamous "Walking with a Ghost," a few from The Con and Sainthood and even added a cover to their setlist (Prince's "When You Were Mine"). They started the night with "Back in Your Head," with Tegan on guitar and Sara on keyboards, which is how it was most of the night.
Probably the biggest showstopper of the night was "Call it Off," a song that at first, seems like a throwaway but it's one of those songs where if you listen to it a couple times, you'll notice all of the idiosyncrasies in the recording...and they definitely pulled them off live as well. Another highlight was during their encore, where they compilled a medley of 9 songs from their various albums throughout the years. It was a good way to get other songs into the set that normally wouldn't have been able to be played due to time constraints. Some of the songs in the medley included "You Wouldn't Like Me," "Hop on a Plane," and "On Directing".
It's obvious on their recordings, but was validated during their live show, that Tegan is the stronger voice of the two. I'm not sure if it's a confidence issue or what it is, since they pretty much have the exact same voice being twins and everything, she's just way more present than Sara.
Since this was the beginning of the tour, the girls were a little rusty with harmonizing together. Not to mention, if it's the first time they're performing new material during tour, it's going to take some time to perfect things. Regardless, the sisters put on a great show and even called themselves out when they weren't on their a-game. They even re-started "Alligator" due to Sara confusing verses, by her exclaiming over the instruments, "No, I fucked up! I fucked up!" The other song they had some severe problems with harmonizing together was "Now I'm All Messed Up," one of my favorites from Heartthrob. It's nice to see a band that can make fun of themselves and be completely aware that they're human and sometimes, musicians will in fact, fuck up. The difference between a good and bad show, is how the band will deal with that. Showing their sense of humor and confidence in their talent, the two definitely prevailed and performed an animated and ecclectic show.
Setlist:
Encore:
Medley (My Number/Monday, Monday, Monday/You Wouldn't Like Me/Superstar/Knife Going In/Hop A Plane/Sentimental Tune/On Directing/I Know I Know I Know)
Living Room
