Kurt Vile Covers Silver Jews for Oxfam Benefit, Reschedules 2020 US Tour with Cate Le Bon
Kurt Vile helped close out Courtney Barnett and Lucius’ Live From Our Lounge Rooms, an epic Instagram Live cover-filled benefit concert for Oxfam. The Philly rocker, who joined in from his home, celebrated the late great David Berman by covering Silver Jews’ “Dallas.” You can check out his version below. Sunday night’s event raised over $38,000 for Oxfam’s COVID-19 response efforts.
Live From Our Lounge Rooms was a chill yet highly coordinated four-hour-long affair. Courtney and Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig kept things on track from a house in Los Angeles. Besides Kurt, the hosts welcomed Nathaniel Rateliff, Sharon Van Etten, Emily King, Lukas Nelson, Bedouine, Waxahatchee (aka Katie Crutchfield) and Kevin Morby, Sheryl Crow, and The War on Drugs. Fred Armisen, who lives in the neighborhood, performed Crisis of Conformity’s “Fist Fight in the Parking Lot,” from outside the window. Other cover song highlights include Sharon’s take on Velvet Underground’s “I Found a Reason,” Kevin and Katie’s rendition of Ohia’s “Farewell Transmission,” and Courtney and Lucius’ performance of Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.”
Kurt, who was a last-minute addition to the benefit lineup, was supposed to head out on tour with Cate Le Bon next month. Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, their shows have been postponed until August. You can find all his upcoming dates below. For the gigs with Cate, they will play together and solo, with accompaniment by Stella Mozgawa and Stephen Black. Kurt and Cate have two shows in New York, September 1st at Bowery Ballroom (tickets), and September 3rd at Town Hall (tickets). To purchase tickets for the other shows, visit Kurt’s website.
As for Kurt’s cover of Silver Jews’ “Dallas,” he delivers a heartfelt, stripped-down version. Kurt wrote a note on Instagram after hearing of David Berman’s passing last summer. You can read that here.
And if you haven’t donated to Oxfam yet, you still can. Visit their website for more details.
2020 Europe Tour
Friday, May 29th, Heimathafen – Berlin, DE
Saturday, May 30th, Fabrik – Hamburg, DE
Sunday, May 31st, Heartland festival – Kværndrup, DK
Tuesday, June 2nd, Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK
Sunday, June 7th, Muziekgieterij – Maastricht, NL
Monday, June 8th, TivoliVredenburg – Utrecht, NL
Tuesday, June 9th, Kulturkirche – Köln, DE
Wednesday, June 10th, De Roma – Antwerp, BE
Friday, June 12th, Vicar Street – Dublin, IE
2020 Canada Tour
Friday-Sunday July 10th-12th, Winnipeg Folk Festival – Winnipeg, MB
2020 US Tour
Friday, August 21st, The Theatre at Ace Hotel, Los Angeles, CA^
Saturday, August 22nd, Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown, CA^
Sunday, August 23rd, Fremont Theater, San Luis Obispo, CA^
Monday, August 24th, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA^
Tuesday, August 25th, The Castro Theatre, San Francisco, CA^
Wednesday, August 26th, Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA^
Friday, August 28th, Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR^
Saturday, August 29th, Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR^
Sunday, August 30th, Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA^
Tuesday, September 1st, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY^
Wednesday, September 2nd, Royale, Boston, MA^
Thursday, September 3rd, The Town Hall, New York, NY^
Friday, September 4th, White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ^
Saturday, September 5th, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA^
Sunday, September 6th, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA^
Tuesday, September 8th, Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL^
Wednesday, September 9th, Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL^
Thursday, September 10th, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI^
Friday, September 11th, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA^
Saturday, September 12th, Stuart’s Opera House, Nelsonville, OH^
Monday, September 14th, Ottobar, Baltimore, MD^
Tuesday, September 15th, Lincoln Theatre, Washington, D.C.^
Thursday, September 17th, Tulips, Fort Worth, TX^
Friday, September 18th, Scoot Inn, Austin TX^
^ with Cate Le Bon
Photo credit: Jo Mccaughey