Saturday Night Live: Father John Misty performs ‘Total Entertainment Forever’

Going into the Father John Misty – Saturday Night Live performance, we had very little in the way of expectations. Why is that? We just hadn’t heard that much of his music other than one or two videos online. We knew that he was well-regarded in the music circles, and did an album that was beloved by many people.

This was really a chance to see more of what the hype surrounding him was all about, and for the first song, he chose to take on something new in “Total Entertainment Forever.”

If there was a word that we’d use to describe this one, it would be “unusual.” We heard him sing about Taylor Swift, the Oculus Rift, and a number of other incomprehensible topics. It was great that he was surrounding by such a big band, and we loved it even more that he had a wide variety of instruments up there. Unfortunately, there were also some times in here where he clearly started to be drowned out by some members of his band and it was hard to necessarily hear everything else.

In the end, this probably appealed to some of Father John’s diehard fans, but for more casual viewers this may have teetered a little too much on the strange, and we say this as someone who does like some indie artists like Sufjan Stevens. Part of the problem for us here is that we’re getting the song on one listen. For many of these artists, it really is like a fine wine where you enjoy it more and more as you start to get used to the lyrics and the melody.

Second Song – Enter “True Comedy,” a lyrical masterpiece and a song that appealed to us more just because it was suited so much more for the smaller, more-intimate crowd. It was much easier to understand, and as a result of that, a whole lot easier to enjoy upon the first listen.

What did you think about the performance from Father John Misty? Share in the comments below, and head over here for more from tonight’s episode. (Photo: NBC.)