The Plain White T’s are currently crossing the United States on their “3 Dimensional Tour” along with tour mates The Mowgli’s and New Politics whose ample set times make the tour like a triple-headliner (possibly the reason for the “3D” tour name?).
New Politics kicked off their opening set in San Francisco with a trio of tunes from their brand new record, An Invitation to an Alternate Reality, to an enthusiastic crowd. After 10 years as a band, this three-piece came across as rejuvenated, effortlessly working a crowd which was largely not familiar with the new music. Of course there was time for the hits and New Politics wrapped up with the crowd favorites including their hit, “Harlem.”
After what seemed like a particularly long set change, The Mowgli’s took the stage. At this point it was pretty clear that anyone who was coming was already there. 20/20 hindsight points to a smaller venue with less open space as a wiser option, but both the bands and the attendees made the most of it and the Bay Area is not surprisingly a sucker for The Mowgli’s set closer, “San Francisco.”
The Plain White T’s finally took the stage at 10:20 in front of what appeared to be a mostly-intact crowd in spite of the late hour on a Tuesday night and proceeded to light up the room. A healthy dose of tunes from 2018’s Parallel Universe was augmented by a smattering of songs from their other releases and, of course, they couldn’t ignore “Hey There Delilah” which teed up the evening closer, “Our Time Now.”