Pitchfork

Photos by Kathryn Yu

You'd think all the fuzzed-out pop-rockin' found on latest release Distortion might have coaxed Stephin Merritt off his cozy stool from the get-go, but there he was last night as the Magnetic Fields kicked off the first show of four at New York City's Town Hall. A reverentially quiet crowd took in a two-part set that interspersed a bunch of Distortion numbers with a cavalcade of classics from the Fields and other Merritt projects. Naturally, the set also featured plenty of dry-humored Merritt banter.

The Magnetic Fields return to Town Hall tonight and twice more this weekend, follow that up with a trio of two-night stands, and cap things off with a six gig blowout in Chicago come mid-March.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS












Fields music:

02-22 New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
02-23 New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
02-24 New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
02-28 San Francisco, CA - The Herbst Theatre
02-29 San Francisco, CA - The Herbst Theatre
03-02 Los Angeles, CA - The Henry Fonda Theatre
03-03 Los Angeles, CA - The Henry Fonda Theatre
03-06 Seattle, WA - Town Hall
03-07 Seattle, WA - Town Hall
03-14 Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music (two shows)
03-15 Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music (two shows)
03-16 Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music (two shows)