New Orleans will welcome Bad Books, the love child of indie darlings Manchester Orchestra and solo artist Kevin Devine, for the first time at 9 p.m. tonight at the Parish at the House of Blues.
Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra’s lead man, and Kevin Devine are lifelong-friends-turned-bandmates. The supergroup formed in 2010, and this is the first time the band is taking a full-length tour.
Bad Books recently debuted the band’s second studio album “II” on Oct. 9, two years after the self-titled record. “II” has received critical acclaim and embracement from fans.
“Things have been going really well. I haven’t read anything bad about it yet, but I also don’t know how to read,” Devine joked. “At the shows, you can see people are really receptive to the songs. I think it’s getting better as the shows go on, which is great for a band.”
Tonight marks the first time Bad Books will play in Louisiana. Devine and Hull said they look forward to different aspects of New Orleans’ culture.
“Well, there’s always great food,” Hull said.
Devine agreed.
“I think it’s kind of nice, I just like walking around the city,” Devine said. “The way it looks, the architecture, it has a different look in America than most other places do. I like that you can walk up and see the Mississippi River, although there’s probably dead bodies in it and I don’t want to know about it, but it’s nice to just get a cup of coffee and sit near the river.”
Bad Books has grown over the past few years with the two frontmen collaborating and complementing each other’s musical styles.
“I think we got whole lot more comfortable singing together and writing together than with the first record,” Hull said. “That really opened up the door for us on this album to try and harmonize as much as we can.”
With both members working on separate music projects, it can be a challenge for Bad Books to keep a distinct lyrical style. Hull and Devine said many songs were miscellaneous pieces that had been waiting for completion, but didn’t work with their other endeavors.
“It’s really spur-of-the-moment stuff that I wrote while we were recording it,” Hull said. “With Manchester [Orchestra], I wouldn’t say there’s a big difference between writing lyrics for the two. It’s really just whatever I’m doing at the time.”
Devine had similar sentiments.
“I had about four or five songs that I didn’t know if I was going to put on ‘Between the Concrete and Clouds,’” Devine acknowledged. “The songs that became the Bad Books record, we found them and played them. Now, I can’t see them as anything but Bad Books’ songs.”
Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. tonight.
