In his critically-adored debut, Ash Wednesday, Elvis Perkins played the role of a mournful folkie to a T. But at the sold-out Bowery show on December 7, the last stop on his 2007 tour, Perkins' songs benefited from the presence of In Dearland, his lively, eclectic backup band. Multi-instrumentalists Brigham Brough, Nicholas Kinsey and Wyndham Boylan-Garnett brought energy and excitement to Perkins' compositions, which in turn proved their versatility by working as bouncy, free-form hoedowns as well as sparse renditions like the ones on Ash Wednesday.

Perkins' solo tracks emphasized the earnest, melancholy tone of his record, but thankfully he never fell into the melodramatics that plague his contemporaries. Wielding an acoustic guitar and a harmonica rack, Perkins smiled reassuringly and dedicated almost every song to a different friend in the audience, showing his sorrows in the mournful vocals of songs like "Ash Wednesday" and "Sleep Sandwich" and not in his stage demeanor. Meanwhile, the enchanting gypsy rock of "All the Night Without Love" surely pleased anyone awaiting the return of Jeff Mangum, and the band's delightful performance nearly disguised the song's downhearted lyrics.