Three Match Breeze

Recently reunited indie/dream-pop rock band Luna, now on the West Coast leg of their reunion tour that started in April at the Echo in Los Angeles, returned to the Fillmore for their first San Francisco show since February of 2005.  Since that first LA show, the band have had six months and over 30 shows in 8 countries to get back in the groove. Although truthfully, they were already pretty in the groove at the first reunion show, with the barest of rust showing after their 10 year hiatus. So rather than polish up an already tight live show, they’ve spent the last half year really expanding their setlists, treating some audiences to full performances of their third record, Penthouse, and other crowds to career-spanning setlists. Regardless of which shows one sees, chances are they’re seeing songs that they’ve never seen Luna perform live before. I’ve seen Luna over a dozen times, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play Penthouse tracks “Double Feature” or “Hedgehog.”

Former live staple “California” has been mostly absent this tour, as was the case at the Fillmore, disappointingly, and they’ve in fact only played it once while actually in California on this leg of the tour. But that just left more room for songs that didn’t get a lot of play the last time around, particularly stronger songs from their later albums like Rendezvous‘ “Speedbumps” and “Malibu Love Nest.” In all, it was a setlist pretty evenly split up across their entire discography, with the 17 songs coming from five of their seven records, plus the fan-favorite cover of “Indian Summer.” Their cover version of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” closed out the show, and made the witch on the free poster handed out after the show (a cool bonus of most shows at the Fillmore) even more fitting (of course, that was a reference to their second record, Bewitched, but still…)

Boston quartet Quilt opened up the show, and their psych-y, spacey, dream pop was the perfect opening act for Luna, who’s fans were quite receptive to what Quilt had to offer. They have a couple records out on Mexican Summer, and they’re definitely worth checking out.

Luna @ The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA, October 23, 2015
Setlist:

Slide
Chinatown
Speedbumps
Sideshow by the Seashore
Malibu Love Nest
Cindy Tastes of Barbecue
Tracy I Love You
Still at Home
Anesthesia
Tiger Lily
Bewitched
Friendly Advice
Lost in Space
23 Minutes in Brussels
Encore:
Moon Palace
Indian Summer (Beat Happening cover)
Season of the Witch (Donovan Cover)