Twenty years on from the release of Everything All The Time, Band of Horses arrived at O2 Academy Bristol to celebrate the record that started it all, with a two-set show spanning their debut and the two decades that followed.
With no support, the first half of the evening belonged entirely to Everything All The Time, performed from beginning to end. Hearing the album in sequence gave the set a natural flow, from The First Song through to the full-band St. Augustine, while the unmistakable opening of The Funeral prompted one of the biggest reactions of the night. Twenty years after its release, it remains a song capable of filling a room in a way few others can.
After a short break, the band returned with the freedom to move through the rest of their catalogue. Is There a Ghost kicked things back into life, with No One’s Gonna Love You among the standout moments of a second set that felt looser and more celebratory than the first.
Bristol also got something completely new, with the live debut of Austrapology, currently a working title, while one of the night’s more personal moments came when the audience sang Happy Birthday to drummer Creighton Barrett’s 11-year-old son during Ode to LRC.
Rather than an exercise in nostalgia, the evening felt like a reminder of just how well Everything All The Time has endured, followed by a celebration of everything Band of Horses have built since. Twenty years on, both the album and the band still sound very much alive.
