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Sixpence is BACK

Photo by me October 24, 2024

This post is long overdue, but Sixpence None the Richer is back (!!!) and quite honestly the most active they have been as a band since the year of Divine Discontent's release more than two decades ago. What has been wild about Sixpence's resurgence is that I have personally been involved. 🤯 And seeing them perform live for the first time in 22 years this week inspired me to write.

I mostly "blog" through Instagram now, but I felt I should take the time to come back here to write more about Sixpence--as this is where it all began. I'll conclude this post by attempting to pull together links to everything I have ever written about Sixpence.

But recently I wildly had the opportunity to write Sixpence's new official 2024 bio, centered around the release of their new EP, Rosemary Hill. You can read the full bio here. It was a blast to get to interview Matt, Leigh, Dale, and Justin over the summer, and I also had the opportunity to listen to the new EP a few months early--which was actually hard because I couldn't talk about it with anyone.

Back in 2023 Matt and Leigh connected me to Curb Records to write the liner notes for the 25th Anniversary vinyl reissue of the self-titled album that was released earlier this year. You'll have to buy a copy of the record to read them, or try to make them out in the photos on Discogs!

 
(video I shot at the Ann Arbor show)

Setlist from the October 24, 2024 show at The Ark in Ann Arbor:

1. Angeltread
2. Within a Room Somewhere
3. Thread the Needle
4. Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House cover)
5. The Tide
6. Rosemary Hill
7. Midnight Sun (The Choir cover)
8. Don't Let Me Die in Dallas (Leigh Nash song)
9. River (Joni Mitchell cover)
10. Melody of You
11. Homeland
12. Down and Out of Time
13. Julia
14. There She Goes (The La’s cover)
15. Kiss Me
16. We Are Love

Encore:
17. Tension Is a Passing Note
18. Breathe Your Name

The show was fantastic and rocking. The Ark is a small venue, best-suited for folk music. So it seemed a little out of place for a loud rock show to be in a tiny seated venue--I wanted to stand up and move! The only other show I have seen there was an Over the Rhine Christmas performance a few years back. The crowd was great and into it. Also, with the expectation that most of the crowd would be around my age and the age of the band members, it was surprising and refreshing to see so many younger people. As it was in Ann Arbor, there were many teens and twenty-somethings I assumed to be University of Michigan students.

I had actually not seen Sixpence None the Richer perform since Cornerstone Festival 2002. I was in the right place at the right time for the second half of the 90's and did see them a dozen times or more from 1995 until then. I first saw them in Birmingham in November 1995, and then in 1997 alone I saw them at least 6 times. I am fairly certain I was present for the first live performance of "Kiss Me" and the rest of the self-titled album as Sixpence showcased those new songs at Jammin Java, Franklin, Tennessee on February 1, 1997.

When I first read early versions of this setlist when the tour began a few weeks back, while pumped about the opening This Beautiful Mess songs, I was otherwise underwhelmed and a tiny bit irritated. Specifically, I have mixed feelings about the covers, and four covers seemed a bit much considering how deep and fantastic the band's catalog of original songs is. I do wish Sixpence had never recorded "There She Goes" and "Don't Dream It's Over." The Sixpence version of the first one I think is now more popular than the original, but I wish the second one didn't exist--and I feel if the band stopped playing it, no one would care or notice.

During the experience of the show I found the inclusion of the covers well-done and mostly well-connected to the full set (except for "Don't Dream It's Over"--it felt out of place). The Choir cover makes sense with Steve Hindalong playing with them right now, and it is a badass rock song that I really enjoyed. The Leigh Nash solo song was beautiful and profound as Leigh explained the writing of it about her dad. And the Joni Mitchell cover was a gorgeous surprise, as it was the first time Sixpence has played it on this tour (and seemingly a part of the marketing strategy for the vinyl re-issue of their Christmas album coming next month with two new songs--one of which, "I Believe In Father Christmas" being released as a single yesterday).

The set was well-paced and well-sequenced, and overall I was really into it. Matt's guitar playing was stunning, Leigh sounds great, it is SO GOOD to see Dale drum again, and Justin sounds the best he ever has with more prominent bass lines. Steve Hindalong (who produced the new EP) is in the band for this tour, mostly playing unique percussion, but also at times on acoustic guitar and background vocals. I loved that they played 5 of the 6 songs from the new EP, and the title track and "We are Love" were standouts. The biggest "omission" for me was the self-titled album in general; only "Kiss Me" to represent their most popular album feels really bizarre. Also, while I know Lost in Transition is not as well-loved or known, to not play a single song from it seems strange? 

All that said, this is the set I would recommend Sixpence play this fall, using their actual set as an outline and limiting it to the same 18 song number...

Setlist I think Sixpence should be playing on this tour (songs I added are starred*):

1. Angeltread
2. Love, Salvation, Fear of Death*
3. Within a Room Somewhere
4. Thread the Needle
5. Rosemary Hill
6. Anything*
7. Midnight Sun (The Choir cover)
8. Don't Let Me Die in Dallas (Leigh Nash song)
10. Melody of You
11. Radio*
11. Homeland
12. Down and Out of Time
13. Julia
14. The Lines of My Earth*
15. Kiss Me
16. We Are Love

Encore:
17. Tension Is a Passing Note
18. Love*

Ending with "Love" would be so powerful, especially the version of it with the epic guitar. 

However, the setlist that I feel would be best for all audiences is not really what I would dream to see. My true dream would be seeing a full This Beautiful Mess show, which actually was being planned until COVID killed it. ðŸ˜­ However, it's not too late! 2025 is the 30th Anniversary! 😉

Outside of an album-focused show, here would be my 18-song set to feature all their best music from throughout their career:

My dream Sixpence setlist (limiting to 18 songs):
1. Angeltread
2. Love, Salvation, Fear of Death
3. Within a Room Somewhere
4. Rosemary Hill
5. Anything
6. The Lines of My Earth
7. Puedo Escribir
8. Down and Out of Time
9. Melody of You
10. A Million Parachutes
11. Paralyzed
12. Sad But True
13. Dresses
14. Radio
15. Don't Pass Me By
16. Meaningless

Encore:
17. We are Love
18. Love

Things I have written about/for Sixpence None the Richer:
2024: Band bio (official)
2023: Liner notes for 25th Anniversary Vinyl reissue of Sixpence None the Richer
2021: Worked on design and layout with Lost in Ohio records for vinyl re-issue of This Beautiful Mess
2017: Essay on the 20th Anniversary of Sixpence None the Richer
2017: Top 25 Sixpence None the Richer songs
2015: Oral History of This Beautiful Mess for it's 20th Anniversary
2015: 20th Anniversary This Beautiful Mess album review
2015: "Love, Salvation, Fear of Death" detailed examination (and how three bass players contributed to the composition of the song)
2015: Leigh Nash interview
2012: "An Open Letter to Sixpence None the Richer", my "viral" blog post that led to my first conversation with Matt and opened the door for future writing.
2010: Strange Conversation, bizarrely the most viewed post in the history of this blog. It is mostly a copied-and-pasted 2010 Sixpence bio (that I did not write) about the album that eventually became Lost in Transition but originally had the name Strange Conversation.
1997: My poorly-written yet intriguing original 1997 review of Sixpence None the Richer when it was released

(If you are reading this and know of other Sixpence things I have written, please let me know!)