page_title: A Crow Looked at Me
section_title: Tour and live performances
hierarchical_section_title: A Crow Looked at Me / Release and promotion / Tour and live performances
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Interieur van de Jacobikerk te Utrecht This is an image of rijksmonument number 36148
context_page_description: A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project by American musician Phil Elverum. It was released on March 24, 2017, on Elverum's own label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. It is a concept album about the death of Elverum's wife, the Canadian cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée. The album was written and produced entirely by Elverum, who recorded it, using mostly Castrée's instruments and notes he had compiled about Castrée, in the room in which she died.
  A departure from Elverum's previous more complicated and experimental works and more in line with albums like Lost Wisdom, A Crow Looked at Me features minimal production, sparse instrumentation, slow winding melodies and intimate lyrics that tell of Castrée's illness and death, Elverum's ensuing grief, his relationship to nature after her death and their recently born child. Initially, Elverum conceived of a small scale release, possibly under a different name; both were dismissed.
context_section_description: Following the release of the album, Elverum embarked on a short North American tour in April 2017. This was followed by another North American tour in September 2017, playing solo shows accompanied only by his acoustic guitar in intimate venues that included concert halls, churches, and theaters. Certain songs from the album were excluded as Elverum found them to be too emotional to play. The tour was extended to include Europe in November 2017. While performing at Jacobikerk as part of Le Guess Who? festival in Utrecht, a sound engineer recorded Elverum's set without his knowledge. Elverum liked the recording so much that it was subsequently released as the live album (after) in 2018. On September 12, 2017, Elverum performed "Ravens," "When I Take Out The Garbage At Night," and "Soria Moria" in the New York office of Stereogum.
  The April and September to November tour received critical acclaim. Critics praised the unique, intimate nature, with some describing it as of one of the most meaningful and memorable concerts they had seen. Pitchfork writer Quinn Moreland named the show, performed at Christ Church Cathedral, as her favourite of 2017. Describing the concert as "a wake—a spiritual sensation that was amplified by the venue, a temple." Elverum's Le Guess Who? performance was selected as one of the best by Consequence of Sound. His show at Thalia Hall was highlighted for consideration by Chicago. NPR selected the concert at Hollywood Forever Cemetery as an "essential" one of the first half of 2017.
  Elverum found that because of the personal nature of the songs touring was difficult, viewing it as "re-enacting a trauma and charging people money for it" and criticising the sense of voyeurism the audience part took in. He did admit though that he would probably partake in a similar show done by a different artist, saying "It's hard to look away from a car accident."
caption: Interior of Jacobikerk.
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