This past Thursday night, Amigo the Devil (real name Danny Kiranos) came down to Mesa, Az. Stepping onto the stage at The Nile Theater to a nearly sold-out house, he was accompanied by a full band made up of Tyler Morse (moonlighting from his main band Murder By Death) on bass, Katacombs (Amigo’s sister Katerina) on the keys, Carson Kehrer behind the drums, and David Talley on guitar. Pulling heavily on his 2021 album, Born Against, as well as 2018’s Everything is Fine, Amigo and company heavily pulled tracks from the albums which haven’t been played live in years. Opening with “Infamous Butcher”, they set the stage for the storytelling, musicianship, and slow creeping mayhem and mischief that would follow. Standout, high energy tracks “Hungover in Jonestown” & “Murder at the Bingo Hall”, as well as crowd favorite “Hell and You” were perfectly balanced by the emotionally charged “The Weight” and “Small Stone Big River”. A familiar scene for longtime fans who are accustomed to Amigo taking the stage by himself, halfway through the show the band left for a few songs. Armed with only stories and songs to be played acoustic, he commanded the entire theater through “Cocaine and Abel” and “Another Man’s Grave”, as well as the crowd favorite and hilarious “Orgy Song”, before taking a brief moment away from the stage. Stepping aside, Amigo invited Daniel Mason front and center to perform an absolutely face melting banjo solo. Upon returning, Amigo sat down at Kehrer’s drum kit to play a few beats (and mischievously toss around the meticulously laid out sticks and mallets), and then stared with the rest of the crowd at Daniel in absolute awe at the incredible talent on display. In anticipation of his upcoming album Yours Until The War Is Over (releasing February of 2024), a couple of new tracks were debuted live as well, including “Cannibal Within” and “Once Upon A Time At Texaco Pt 1”.
As with any Amigo The Devil show, the night isn’t strictly about the music being played. Every song has a story, and every story has it’s scars, and those scars are painful to bare alone. Nearly every song played was accompanied by the tale it sprung from. While heavy at times and hilarious at others, it’s the storytelling and vulnerability that enables everyone in attendance to find a relatability and a connection to those on stage and those shoulder-to-shoulder with them. The raw openness of Amigo’s music and storytelling has helped bind his fans together into a tightknit fellowship, a fellowship which has learned to share their own weights and burdens, to rejoice in their own stories, songs, and scars. Following his lead, they’ve become a fellowship that revels in the opportunity to sing along with the Devil every time he comes to town.
The full setlist for Thursday’s show follows below image gallery.
Infamous Butcher
The Weight
Different Anymore
Once Upon A Time at Texaco Pt 1
Murder at the Bingo Hall
Cocaine and Abel
Another Man’s Grave
One Kind of People
Hungover in Jonestown
Hell and You
Cannibal Within
Small Stone, Big River
Perfect Wife
