Orville Peck at The Fox Theater in Oakland 6/14/2022

 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

In 2020, gay country star sensation Orville Peck was slated to play shows at small venues outside of and in the Bay Area including Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown, The New Parish in Oakland and The Independent in San Francisco. 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

Those shows so happened to be Faux-Chella shows as they all fell between weekend one and weekend two of Coachella but that was two years ago when everything, including Coachella and every other festival, show, anything and everything was canceled due to COVID. 

Two years later, the masked man with that deep, velvety voice that cries Chris Isaak re-emerged with a new tour and new tour dates including Coachella, Stagecoach and Faux-Chella shows. This time around though Orville Peck played a sold-out show at The Fox Theater in Oakland which is nearly three times the size of his scheduled 2020 show at The Independent. Days shy of  making the Faux-Chella cut off (90 days before and/or after Coachella in a 100 mile radius of the Empire Polo Fields) Orville Peck's June 14th show was also just in time for pride celebrations! 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

And the wait was worth it. 

Before masks were a common thing whether you liked them or not, Orville Peck made them fashionable with long tassels giving off a mysterious allure. Even under the mask, he made many in the crowd weak in the knees: swooning, singing and swaying to his trademark sound. 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

From the strings of the guitar to the keys of the piano Orville Peck passionately caressed each instrument he played bringing an intimacy to life right before his fan's faces. He could be a crooner from the past or perhaps a visitor from the future gracing us with a new, fantastical genre of music that we've been missing.  

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

Clad in barbed-wire attire, many in the crowd mirrored him in similar masks as he played hits and a smattering off his phenomenal new album, Bronco. He proved to be a born performer with an active, engaging stage presence, plus a unique and superb sound, with an air of intrigue that is inescapable. 

Orville Peck at The Fox Theater Oakland 6/14/2022
photo by Marc Fong 

Orville Peck is someone you gotta see live to believe. 

review by Marc Fong & Nikki DeMartini