MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks was a standout album in 2024, a masterpiece of indie lo-fi songcraft. Just two years earlier, Boat Songs had likewise wowed critics and attracted fans who appreciated the Asheville, NC, native’s talky singing style and curiously stylistic lyrics. Who knew the guy could jam too?!

Lenderman’s nearly two-hour set at San Francisco’s Independent on Monday night, accompanied by his touring band The Wind, was a masterclass of sonic transcendence. The Americana rock of Lenderman’s recordings was augmented all night long with infusions of slow- burn solos and melodic feedback. The band was having so much fun stretching out that they couldn’t even get through all their planned setlist before hitting the house curfew.

That “slow burn” was accentuated by a stick of sandalwood incense burning on top of one of the amps all night. Like the smoke curling upward from the stage, Lenderman and The Wind took their time floating and twisting in the ether of Lenderman’s catalog.

It’s easy to trace a through line from Neil Young’s live performances with Crazy Horse through Sonic Youth and My Morning Jacket to get to MJ Lenderman. From the opening chords of the instrumental “Ghost of Your Guitar Solo” through the set-closing one-two punch of “Bark at the Moon” into “No Mercey,” Lenderman and The Wind enraptured the sold-out crowd. (And yes, Lenderman confirmed on stage that “Bark at the Moon” is a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne's classic 1983 album.)

The evening treated the crowd to every song from Manning Fireworks, more than half of Boat Songs, and a smattering of other songs from Lenderman’s numerous releases going back as far as 2019’s Lucky, a three-song collection.

Lyrically, Lenderman’s songs are often wry. Try this one: “I guess I'll call you Rip Torn, the way you got tore up.” Occasionally, he tosses in religious humor, touching perhaps on his Catholic upbringing. In “Priest,” for example, he sings, “Used to believe I wanted to be a catholic priest…The house would come furnished, yeah, I'd have it made.”

Lenderman did not play one of my personal favorites on Monday, “Tastes Just Like It Costs.” But he did include my other fave song in the set, “Wristwatch”:

So you say I've got a funny face
It makes me money
So you say I've wasted my life away
Well, I got a beach home up in Buffalo
And a wristwatch that's
A compass and a cell phone
And a wristwatch that
Tells me you're all alone

The Wind is comprised of Jon Samuels on guitar; Xandy Chelmis on pedal steel guitar and fiddle; Ethan Baechtold on keyboards and percussion; Colin Miller on drums; and Landon George on bass. (Chelmis and Baechtold are also members of Lenderman’s other band, Wednesday.) Chelmis’s textures on pedal steel were particularly tasty, often laced with increasing layers of fuzz tones and distortion. Samuels, sharing rhythm and lead guitar duties with Lenderman, was as fun to watch as he was to hear. His high-energy stage presence provided a counterbalance to Lenderman’s laissez-faire frontman stature.

The Independent gig was the first of two back-to-back sellouts, and it also marks Lenderman’s first headline performance in San Francisco. No doubt, he’ll play in a larger venue next time around. Word is gonna spread about these shows for sure.

Opening band Wild Pink dimmed the house lights to walk on stage during Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Like MJ Lenderman and The Wind, the NYC quartet plays lo-fi Americana rock. Hints of 1970s mellowness blended with some essence of grunge. (Maybe a taste of Pavement?). No pyrotechnics, just four guys making some cool garage band music.

Wild Pink did what an opening band is supposed to do. They got the audience’s attention, probably inspired a few folks to check them out on Spotify and set the stage for the headliner to knock some socks off.

MJ LENDERMAN
SET LIST
Ghost of Your Guitar Solo
Manning Fireworks
Joker Lips
Wristwatch
On My Knees
SUV
Catholic Priest
Rudolph
Toontown
Six Flags
Rip Torn
You Have Bought Yourself a Boat
TLC Cage Match
Pianos
She's Leaving You
You Don't Know the Shape I'm In
Bark at the Moon >
No Mercy

Encore:
Knockin'