Thursday night marked the once-thought impossible return of Neutral Milk Hotel to Louisiana. It was the first of a two-night show at the Civic Theatre in New Orleans. The band’s appearance was one of many in a cross-country tour following a 15-year hiatus.
Athens-based indie rockers Elf Power fronted the show and emerged around 8 o’clock, playing a solid one-hour set. This was just enough to get the crowd excited for the main event. Neutral Milk Hotel’s singer Jeff Mangum took the stage soon after to welcome the theater, whose balconies and floor space were packed with fans, including “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star couple Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis.
The crowd’s response to Mangum’s greeting was one of pure joy and excitement. Neutral Milk Hotel’s stop in New Orleans is significant in that the band originally hales from the city of Ruston, La. For fans, the show was to be taken as a decade-and-a-half homecoming for the much-loved musicians.
Neutral Milk Hotel launched into the performance with “King of Carrot Flowers Part 1,” a fan favorite as well as the opening track from the critically acclaimed 1998 album “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.” This was followed by accompaniment “King of Carrot Flowers Parts 2 & 3,” which helped to establish the atmosphere of the event.
A commanding horn section, led by original trumpeter Scott Spillane, accompanied Mangum’s singing with full force, powering through horn-heavy songs like the horn-heavy instrumental “Fool.”
Surprising to many fans was Neutral Mil Hotel’s decision to deviate from its most prominent album so as to include earlier songs from its repertoire. These included tracks from the band’s debut “On Avery Island” like the riotous “Song Against Sex,” which featured impressive trombone work from Spillane.
The set was punctuated with some intimate acoustic solo playing by Mangum. In these instances, he performed some of his more leisurely songs, having the entire Civic Theatre join him in singing the relaxed ballads “Two-Headed Boy” and “Oh Comely.”
The show closed with “Snow Song Part One,” which moved to the audience to its emotionally tipping point and resulted in an overly jubilant applause at the end. Following the band’s exit the crowd soon worked its hand-clapping into rhythmic stomping, signaling the desire for an encore.
Mangum soon returned to cheering and performed “Ghost” to an ecstatic singing audience. The entire band filled the stage once more to perform the raucous instrumental powerhouse, ironically untitled. 
The theater’s sense of wonder was brought to a peak with a performance of “Two-Headed Boy, Part Two,” which ushered in nicely the final song: “Engine,” a Neutral Milk Hotel chestnut found early in the band’s independent discography.
By the time Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel exited, the audience was deafening in its satisfaction. For many, this show was something that would never happen, considering the band’s infamous prolonged hiatus since 1998. Fortunately, dreams became reality that night, and Neutral Milk Hotel has been doing the unthinkable for the last year by bringing its irreplaceable music back to the ears of admirers across America.