James Vincent McMorrow and Aidan Knight Serenade Union Transfer

by Donte Kirby

Aidan Knight and James Vincent McMorrow enraptured the audience with their unique voices at Union Transfer on Saturday night.

Knight, a four piece that included a violin played by Hannah Epperson, opened the evening. Lead vocals, and band namesake, Aidan Knight’s melancholy songs and lower register of singing contrasted nicely James Vincent McMorrow’s higher register.

Aidan Knight’s set mostly consisted of songs off their latest album, Small Reveal, such as “Creatures Great and Small” and “You Will See the Good in Everyone'”. At Knight’s first show in Philly, no one showed up. Knight described it as “one of those real moments” that made him wonder if he still wanted to perform a career in music. Now on tour with James Vincent McMorrow, who heard his music and decided Aidan Knight was a fit for the tour, there is a bigger turn out and a much better show that makes Knight remember why he loves music.

The lower level floor of Union Transfer was packed when James Vincent McMorrow graced the stage with his band. The stage was adorned with pyramids that were a range of different colors from yellow to alternating red and blue throughout the night. McMorrow’s little over an hour long set included songs from his latest album, Post Tropical, and older material such as “If I Had a Boat”. The song “Cavalier” produced a clap right on cue from diehard fans that had the whole venue clapping in tune.

Toward the end of the performance McMorrow detailed the ups and downs of “one of the greatest tours, but everything that logistically could go wrong, did.” He battled strep throat, a missing tour bus, a death in the family of a bandmate, a harrowing drive over the Rockies, to name a few of the mishaps along the tour. Despite it all he made it to Union Transfer and put on a show that made every member of the audience glad they bought their ticket.