Grammy Award-winning band OK Go will return to Nashville on July 14 at The Basement East after much anticipation from fans. It’s been roughly a decade since their last performance in Music City and a year and a half since their most recent performance. The Hustler spoke with bassist Timothy Norwind about the exciting four-city summer tour the band is doing.
“I mean, we did our last real run of touring in 2014 and 2015 and did a makeup show a year and a half ago, which is something that we couldn’t do before because of the pandemic,” Nordwind said. “It’s been almost 10 years since we’ve really played a string of shows.”
Nordwind discussed what sets this tour apart from past performances, expressing the band’s excitement about returning to Nashville and the opportunity to perform a longer setlist. The new setlist includes songs they’ve never played live before, including a few from their newest record.
“We just finished our new record,” Nordwind said. “It’s our fifth record, and we’re going to be playing some new music, things that we’ve never played in front of an audience before.”
He is also excited to debut specific songs like “Love,” “Better Than This” and “Good Good Day,” which all come from this upcoming album.
The band hopes to implement balance in their shows, ensuring that the audience can enjoy their new songs while also appreciating the older ones.
“Once the record is out, I think we’ll probably play a lot more of it,” Nordwind said. “I know when I go to see a band I love, and they have a new record out, and I don’t know it, I’m usually psyched to hear a couple of the new ones. But I really want to hear the things I know. So we’re definitely going to be playing a lot of songs from our previous records.”
Throughout their performance, Nordwind hopes the audience will feel grounded and present in their lives, despite the distractions of cell phones that often vie for viewers’ attention.
“I’m sort of hoping that both for the record and for the show we can feel connected and present in what we’re doing together,” Nordwind said.
OK Go hopes to make each performance on their tour memorable and unique, even for those who have seen them live before. They recently turned to social media to ask their followers what they want to hear. The goal is to keep things new for returning fans.
The band looks forward to playing for their Nashville audience for the first time in a decade. Whether they’re performing a new song or an older one, the band is gaining a new kind of excitement with being back on stage.
