On Friday, March 22, Ghost Light released their highly anticipated debut album, Best Kept Secrets. In celebration, the band hosted a stellar album release party at St. Paul, Minnesota’s Turf Club later that evening, offering fans a full preview of their new LP.
For the performance, Tom Hamilton, Holly Bowling, Raina Mullen and Scotty Zwang were joined by bassist Dan Africano. Initially, when the band began touring last year, the group tapped Steve Lyons to join them on the road and help with the album’s conception. Much like the individual members of Ghost Light, Africano is similarly a celebrated musician in the music scene who is best known for his work with John Brown’s Body.
Throughout the show, Ghost Light worked their way through the entirety of Best Kept Secrets, offering a performance of the full tracklist in addition to other numbers that didn’t make the cut. Mirroring the album, the group first offered takes on the record’s first two songs: a straightforward “Elegy” followed by a sprawling rendition of “Don’t Come Apart Just Yet, My Dear.” For the latter, the band opened the number with a 17-minute, improvisational-heavy rendition, eventually detouring into a brief take on American Babies’ “Swimming at Night” before closing out the “Don’t Come Apart” sandwich with yet another 17-minute take. From there, the band worked into Best Kept Secrets‘ third and fourth tracks, “Diamond Eyes” and “Isosceles” to close the frame.
For the second set, the band worked through the second half of the album, similarly expanding and jamming their source material. A dramatic and wailing “Beyond/Before” opened the set ahead of “Keep Your Hand To Yourself.” Notably, the band used this tune to sandwich two additional songs, Raina Mullen’s “Afraid” and The Shins’ “Simple Song,” which the group deftly weaving between tracks over the course of nearly a half hour. Next up was “If Only, For Now,” which marked the song’s live debut and saw drummer Scotty Zwang join Bowling on the keys. “Doorway to a Silent Chamber” sandwiched an old American Babies’ tune “Weight of the World” and ultimately led into the album’s title track and the set’s final song “Best Kept Secret.” For the final song of the night, Ghost Light offered an encore of yet another American Babies’ tune, “Winter War Games.”
You can listen to a high-quality audience recording of Ghost Light’s show in St. Paul on Friday below, courtesy of DPK/o-canis:
Setlist
Set One: Elegy > Don’t Come Apart* > Swimming at Night > Don’t Come Apart, Diamond Eyes, Isosceles
Set Two: Beyond/Before, Keep Your Hands to Yourself > Afraid > Keep Your Hands to Yourself > Simple Song > Keep Your Hands to Yourself, If Only For Now **# > Doorway to a Silent Chamber > Weight of the World > Doorway to a Silent Chamber > Best Kept Secret
Encore: Winter War Games
- # = First time played
- * = With Best Kept Secret tease
- ** = With Scotty joining Holly on Keys
