PHOTOS: Father John Misty – O2 Apollo, Manchester – 13/04/2025

There’s almost an intangibility to Father John Misty, like he’s some mystery man pushing the boundaries of folk-rock from its hazy ‘60s heyday, somehow revived and fully up to speed with the way of the modern world. He’s a rare kind of artist, to be sure. And as such, his oft-welcomed torrents of acclaim are of little secret. If you had your ears to the ground on the higher-end, Pitchforkier side of the game, you’ll no doubt remember I Love You, Honeybear and Pure Comedy heralded as back-to-back opuses. If you were around just a few months ago, his latest Mahashmashana resoundingly followed suit.

Thus, it’s little surprise that Josh Tillman’s jaunts to the UK are coming so thick and fast. He’s back for more after this run as early as June and August, and that’s not even mentioning his appearance at Liverpool’s Jacaranda on the very same day as this Manchester show. That was more a fleeting in-store stop than anything ‘proper’, mind; this is the big one. Joined by Butch Bastard—the folk-rock moniker of Ian Murray who, like Tillman, inhabits a branch in the Fleet Foxes universe as a member of the side-project Poor Moon—Father John Misty takes to Manchester’s O2 Apollo for a frankly staggering show, captured for us for Ben Whitehurst.

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Butch Bastard

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Father John Misty

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Photos by Ben Whitehurst (Instagram)