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Speedy Ortiz: Tiny Desk Concert

By Stephen Thompson
Published August 31, 2023 at 9:37 AM CDT

Ten years ago, sometime after Speedy Ortiz transformed itself from a Sadie Dupuis solo project into a functioning rock band, its jagged and clever early singles caught the attention of NPR Music's Lars Gotrich. So we reached out to inquire about a Tiny Desk concert, only to learn the timing wasn't quite right: The group didn't have any days off, and its members were concerned they wouldn't sound their best.

So they responded to our request with a question of their own. "Can we do it later?"

Now, Speedy Ortiz is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its debut album, Major Arcana, and finally making good on that offer to come back another time — though it should be noted that Dupuis' side project Sad13 did play a killer Tiny Desk (home) concert back in 2020.

But this set stands as a definitive Speedy Ortiz time capsule, bringing together band members of the past and present while capturing one song from each of the group's four albums: "The Graduates" (from 2015's Foil Deer), "Scabs" (from the new Rabbit Rabbit), "Lucky 88" (from 2018's Twerp Verse) and "Plough" (from Major Arcana).

It's truly a performance 10 years in the making, not to mention an ideal showcase for the band's wiry, eternally quotable charm. Even the stuffed bunnies seem impressed.

SET LIST

  1. "The Graduates"
  2. "Scabs"
  3. "Lucky 88"
  4. "Plough"

MUSICIANS

  • Sadie Dupuis: electric guitar, lead vocal 
  • Andy Molholt: electric guitar, piano, backing vocal
  • Audrey Zee Whitesides: bass, backing vocal
  • Joey Doubek: drums
  • Devin McKnight: acoustic guitar/aux percussion
  • Darl Ferm: acoustic guitar/aux percussion
  • Camellia Hartman: violin

TINY DESK TEAM

  • Producer: Bob Boilen
  • Director/Editor: Maia Stern
  • Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
  • Series Producer: Bobby Carter
  • Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel
  • Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
  • Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
  • Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Hazel Cills
  • VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
  • Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundman

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Concerts Tiny Desk
Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist and guest host on All Songs Considered. Thompson also co-hosts the daily NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created with NPR's Linda Holmes in 2010. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)