Wye Oak at the Mothlight in Asheville

Wye Oak’s JOIN tour kicked off at the Mothlight in Asheville on Thursday night. This is unique tour for the band as they are playing Wye Oak deep cuts along with songs from front woman Jenn Wasner’s side project Flock of Dimes and the band’s only other full member Andy Stack’s side project Joyero. Andy is usual on drums when you see Wye Oak live, sometimes simultaneously playing keyboard, but on this tour he is front and center with Jenn. The band also added three other touring members to flesh out the sound of old songs and debut some new ones as well as playing the songs from the side projects.

The night started with openers Ohmme, they are two guitarist who do a great job harmonizing the vocals they share on their songs. I was next to a couple in the crowd that were dancing a lot more than you’d expect for the sound which was very entertaining, definitely adding to my enjoyment of the set.

Wye Oak’s set was much different than usual with only For Prayer and Logic of Color remaining of the songs they usually play. Yes that meant no Holy Holy, The Tower and even no Civilian. I’m not as familiar with the side projects but definitely enjoyed what I heard. The band played several new songs that they said they were playing live for the first time ever as well. This was my 5th time seeing them but with the big changes in the set it was almost like seeing a new band that I didn’t know as much. I think this tour is a great idea and a treat for longtime fans, even if at the end of the night a crowd member could be heard complaining about the lack of Civilian. I’m sure they’ll play it next time. They are worth seeing more than once, I promise.