After a three and a half week holiday break, the Kevin Morby /Cate Le Bon tour that started in San Francisco in early December is back on the road. Thursday’s stop in NYC was special because it marked Morby’s first show as a solo artist in the big city he no longer calls home. Morby moved to LA last fall after seven years in New York City.

The set Morby played Thursday night at a sold-out Mercury Lounge mirrored song-for-song the one he performed on the tour’s opening night. The only major difference was that headliner Cate Le Bon did not come out to sing her lines on Slow Train as she did in SF. I had heard reports that this was the case at recent shows elsewhere and my hunch is that it simply became too much of a pre-show routine buster for Le Bon. I mean the cordiality between the two remains obvious as Le Bon dedicated the final song of Thursday’s main set to Morby. The only other subtle difference between night one of the tour and the great Morby performance Thursday night was the natural seasoning he and has band have added while on the road. The songs sound fuller. Tastier.

Here’s the 1-16-14 Morby set list. Running time was 38 minutes. I’ve made up the titles for the three non-Harlem River songs so wildly popular with the audience based on the bobbing of heads and dancing in place that goes on during them.

1. The Jester
2. The Count-up song
3. Sucker in the Void
4. Harlem River (Morby: “This is a song about and for New York.” Timed at 6 minutes, 50 seconds)
5. Wild Side (Dedicated to somebody. I didn’t catch the name)
6. Slow Train (Beautiful opening bass line that Evans reworked since the SF show. Also more creative improv-sounding organ spots from Canzoneri)
7. Miles, Miles, Miles
8. Call My Name or Love My Life

After playing Harlem River, Morby asked the crowd for a show of hands from those who thought he looked nervous. Nobody raised their hand. A woman in the front said: “A little bit, Kev.”

Morby never looks nervous. As front-man, he continues to have the mostly emotionless face of a bass player. If anything, he looked a bit tired. But in response to the woman he knew who answered his show-of-hands question, he acknowledged a touch of the butterflies. “It’s only because I see so many faces that I love,” said Morby.

Among those in the crowd were Babies bandmates Cassie Ramone and Brian Schleyer. Woodist founder and Woods colleague Jeremy Earl was also there. Just a week earlier, Earl announced a string of 18 live shows to follow the 4-15-14 release of the new Woods record With Light and With Love. Morby has confirmed he will not participate in that tour given the full attention he’s devoting to his solo endeavor.

The three songs Morby is currently performing live that do not appear on his debut release are clear-cut keepers that you’d expect will become the building blocks for his next record. In a Tweeted response to a fan who asked about the number that closed his set Thursday night, Morby said that it will indeed be included on LP #2.

The devoted recording engineer, Woods fan and Morby supporter Acid Jack was at Mercury Lounge Thursday night working his devices. He gained permission from Le Bon’s camp a day or two prior so expect both sets to go up on NYCTaper in the coming days.

This was an early show. With service charges, the advanced ticket cost $14.90. Doors opened at 630 PM. Morby went on at 7. Le Bon took the stage at 8 and finished about 9. The room was then cleared for a second, separate admission performance by Les Racquet and Dangermuffin. To maximize a night’s take, rock clubs will sometimes try to cram two events into a single evening which can often rush the proceedings on the front end – or make it a late night on the back end – or both. In this case, the unusually early start to Morby/Le Bon worked out fine since both acts have honed their timing and the audience seemed to know the set time details in advance. Personally, the early start – and early finish – was great for me since I had to work at 4 AM Friday. Had it been a standard 9 PM, 10 PM or later launch to the show, I may not have been able to pull it off.

Barring some kind of too-high-to-climb travel hurdle, I plan to hit next week’s Toronto Morby/Le Bon show.