A couple of weeks ago, we went to see Belle and Sebastian! They were on their US tour and playing at the Fox Theater in Oakland, which itself is an amazing venue. I have sketched the Fox before, on my one trip to downtown Oakland back in 2021. Belle and Sebastian are for sure my favourite band (outside the Beatles), and they always give a brilliant show with an unpredictable setlist. Unlike most other bands they mix it up every night so you never know what songs you will get. I had a wishlist and almost all of them were played, even some I honestly didn’t expect. Here’s the setlist. I went with my wife and my son; it was my son’s first ever big concert so a big deal. Even though we were sat quite high up and far back, those were the best seats I could get, and it was a full house. The frontman Stuart Murdoch was entertaining as ever, a friendly story teller, and the band really played well, the sound carried around wonderfully. There’s nothing like a live gig to really feel the realness of a musician playing their instrument, playing songs that I’ve been listening to for so many years, and there they are right in front of me. My son’s a big Belle and Sebastian fan too, we both got t-shirts and got super excited when songs we love would suddenly come to life. My wife likes them too, the only other time we got to see them was when they played in Davis at the Mondavi Center in 2015 (how amazing that they played in Davis! Playing songs that reminded me of that first hot summer in Davis, cycling around with their new album in my head). I do listen to then a lot. They played Lazy Line Painter Jane during the encore, one of those early songs that made me love the band, and finished off with Another Sunny day, from their 2006 album The Life Pursuit, which brought me right back to that first year over here so many many years ago now. It was a fantastic concert, one that we couldn’t stop thinking about afterwards. I just want to see them again now! I wish I could see them in Scotland. I did my sketch of the venue in the little Moleskine before the gig started, so I could still see the detailed scenery, though not that well and I just wanted to draw quickly. I sketched them when they played onstage and added the paint in afterwards, mostly I just wanted to clap and sing along. Thanks for the great show!