Toad the Wet Sprocket delivers a well rounded performance at The Strand Theatre in York PA

On a rainy Tuesday evening, fans of all ages packed the historic, 1,262 seat Strand Theatre in York, PA, for a 20-song set by Santa Barbara, California band Toad The Wet Sprocket. The Strand Theatre is one of two historic theatre’s in York which comprise the Appell Center for the Performing Arts, with the other being the connected and considerably smaller Capitol Theatre. Although locally, we were still dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Ian, the rain didn’t dampen the mood inside. Toad The Wet Sprocket, perhaps best known for a string of successful singles in the 1990’s era, brought their ‘Starting Now’ Fall tour into the heart of York with support from Portland, OR folk and Americana artist Chris Pureka.

Portland, OR based artist Chris Pureka opened the show with an intimate 5-song set including songs from their most recent, pandemic inspired and conceived album ‘The Longest Year’. I have to admit that I had not ever heard of them before, but from the opening notes of the haunting ‘Holy’, from their 2016 album, ‘Back In The Ring’, I was captivated by Pureka’s earnest voice and sparse arrangements. Pureka described their music several times throughout the set as “melancholy”, even joking that some of the songs written during the pandemic period were “too much” so, but adding that one of their “more cheerful” songs, the title track to their most recent album, ‘The Longest Year’ also sprang to life during the same isolated period. Pureka and Andy Alseri’s only instruments were twin guitars and a bass drum track on several songs, including ‘The Barn Song’ and what Pureka called their “ordinary, run-of-the-mill depression song”, ‘Cabin Fever’.

Pureka confessed how appreciative they were for being added to several shows on Toad The Wet Sprocket’s Fall tour, as they were one of their favorite bands growing up. They ended their 5-song set with the title track to their 2016 album, ‘Back In The Ring’, which offered a hopeful message and was dedicated to Tyler (they know who they are). Having come not knowing anything at all about Chris Pureka, I left a fan who will definitely be seeking out their recorded works and future shows. Their next, closest dates to the area appear to be a pair of shows at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, VA on December 14th or Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia on December 15th. I highly recommend catching them if you can!

Although it isn’t really clear to me why, and after all the years that have passed, looking back, I can’t recall why I haven’t (until now) seen Toad The Wet Sprocket live before. The Strand Theatre was the perfect venue to see them perform live for the first time. The Strand is a mid-sized, historic theatre, with beautiful hand painted murals adorning the walls, ornate plaster work and chandeliers. Even from the second-to-last row of the back balcony, the view and sound was great for Tuesday’s show. Fans enjoyed an 18-song main set with a 2-song encore.

After opening with ‘Come Down’, from the band’s fifth full-length studio album ‘Coil’, lead vocalist Glen Phillips told the packed house that it was “Good to see you all on this beautiful, rainy day” before playing ‘Crowing’ from their celebrated 1994 album ‘Duclinea’. ‘Good Intentions’, a track which appears on both their B-sides and rarities compilation album ‘In Light Syrup’ and the ‘Friends’ TV Soundtrack, was dedicated “to anyone who’s ever had a good time doing something they deeply regret.”

‘Hold On’ and ‘Fly From Heaven’ were both standout, crowd pleasers. After a crowd sourced sing-a-long on the chorus of ‘Starting Now’, they played another standout track from the set, ‘California Wasted’, the third single from their 2013 album ‘New Constellation’. Phillips then introduced ‘Transient Whales’ by telling a tale of a nostalgic visit to Timeless Arcade in downtown York during some tour downtime, where he tried (and apparently failed) to beat classic games like Missile Command and Frogger, but revealed that the cost to play was at least super cheap!

Following an impressively brief “set change”, where they pared down to all acoustic guitars, a bongo drum and a single mic, they played 3 songs in a living room style, semi-circle. Tracks included ‘Get What You Want’, “Nanci” (dedicated to both singer Nanci Griffith who passed in August of 2021 and Loretta Lynn whose passing was announced earlier in the day) and a cover of the 1988 Crowded House single ‘Better Be Home Soon’, sung by bassist Dean Dinning, who joked, “Alright, I think I heard someone say, “Let the bass player sing one””.

The main set was filled out by the tracks ‘Rings’, ‘All I Want’, a great rendition of ‘Nightingale Song’ featuring a tribal, dual drum solo outro by bassist Dean Dinning and drummer Josh Daubin, ‘Crazy Life’ and the first single from ‘Dulcinea’, ‘Fall Down’. The crowd was encouraged to stand for maximum enjoyment during ‘Nightingale Song’. Almost all of the crowd in the lower house remained standing in the seated venue for the final performances of the show.

The band returned to the stage after leaving only briefly to play a 2-song encore including the singles ‘Something’s Always Wrong’, from 1994’s ‘Dulcinea’ and ‘Walk On The Ocean’, from 1991’s ‘fear’, the latter of which peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart.

As fans made their way to their vehicles from the venue on the cold, rainy Tuesday night, many were overheard raving about the show. Here’s hoping Toad The Wet Sprocket returns to the area soon!

Enjoy these photos of Chris Pureka and Toad the Wet Sprocket by Shantel Mitchell Breen.