It was clear from Pinegrove’s first song, “Alaska,” that they were not fucking around.

Their show at Bowery Ballroom on March 3rd, rescheduled from the previous week, was their third sold-out show on their hometown NYC run, and the last date on their US tour. They seemed intent to play as long and as intensely as they were able. It was likely to the benefit of the crowd that the show was pushed back a week, and we caught a well-practiced, but also well-rested (a rarity for a band at the tail-end of a tour), Pinegrove in fine form.

The massive 26 song set (suited for a band playing stadiums, where their aspirations seem to lie), included their entire album 2022 release, 11:11 (which has grown on me a lot since seeing it performed live) as well fan favorites from Skylight, Marigold, (and of course) Cardinal. The band even delved into deeper cuts from their compilations (for lack of better words) Amperland, NY and Everything So Far.

The loudest cheers were for cuts off Cardinal, which closed the set, including “Old Friends” (performed for the first time on this tour), “Aphasia” (which made me cry, as it always does live, and sometimes not live), “New Friends,” and “Size of the Moon,” but the new songs were also undeniable. They had the same familiar, lived in, and comforting envelopment that made the first albums so beloved, and they were delivered on stage with the cathartic, sometime whispered, sometimes in the vocal cord/ heart shredding delivery that lead singer and songwriter Evan Stephens Hall is known for. It’s hard not to get lost in these songs, in the same way that Hall does on stage.