Ed O'Brien opens his Blue Morpho tour at Carré in Amsterdam

Birdsong that Ed O'Brien taped at the Welsh retreat where he works played into Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam during “Blue Morpho” on Sunday 4 October, the first night of his An Evening With... Blue Morpho tour. Jeroen van der Vring, reviewing the premiere in Dutch for Written in Music, found the hall full and hushed as the lights went down.

Dave Okumu, a friend of O'Brien's for some twenty years, leads the band as musical director. He and bassist Robin Mullarkey had already backed ESKA in her support slot. Her party piece was to have everyone start Philip Glass's “Opening” on their phones together and sing over the dozens of copies. She returned to sing in O'Brien's set, where, to van der Vring's ear, her voice carried better.

Alongside the new album came three songs from Earth, his 2020 debut, and “Single File”, a track cut from Blue Morpho. “Incantations” was played twice, the second time longer, with the whole band. Live, van der Vring felt, the record's folk and ambient balance lost some delicacy to louder guitars, but the songs grew more physical, shaped by Okumu's guitar. “Obrigado” closed the set, as it closes the album.

Setlist, Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, 4 October 2026

Written in Music's setlist box stops at “Brasil”; its review says “Obrigado” closed the set.

The band

Adrian Utley and Glenn Kotche, who play on the album, are not in the touring band.