Patrick Wolf with Calvin Arsenia
Tour of the Beast Part Two
November 8, 2026
Reverb Lounge, Omaha, Nebraska
Words and photos by Adam Tibbott
I’ve been to enough metal shows at Omaha’s Reverb Lounge that I rarely give the venue’s front door much thought. But on Sunday night, during an evening of considerably quieter music, I couldn’t help noticing just how loudly that door squeaked. I mentioned it to the guy working the door, who responded with what might have been the most appropriate observation of the entire evening.
“Yeah, you don’t notice it at metal shows.”
He wasn’t wrong. Sunday night’s performance from Patrick Wolf and opening artist Calvin Arsenia was a considerable departure from the volume and aggression that frequently fill the Reverb Lounge. Instead, the evening was built around intricate instrumentation, personal storytelling, unexpected humor, and the kind of intimacy that can sometimes get lost in larger productions.
Kansas City-based avant-garde harpist Calvin Arsenia opened the evening, making his first appearance in Omaha. Accompanying him was Romeo, his full-sized orchestral harp, an instrument that was every bit as fascinating as the musician playing it. Arsenia took time between songs to introduce the audience to Romeo, explaining the significance of the harp’s differently colored strings and how the instrument handles sharps and flats. It was a little music lesson tucked into an already unconventional performance, and it helped make the evening feel more like a gathering of friends than a traditional concert.
His storytelling also extended into more personal territory. One original composition was inspired by the experience of letting go of a relationship while remaining grateful for the time spent together. Rather than approaching the subject with resentment or regret, the song reflected an appreciation for something meaningful that had simply reached its conclusion. Arsenia also treated the audience to his interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” a fitting addition to an evening already centered on reflection, change, and finding beauty in life’s transitions.
When Patrick Wolf took the stage, the evening continued along that same intimate path, although his performance brought an entirely different approach to creating music. A multi-instrumentalist with a career spanning more than two decades, Wolf has never been particularly interested in fitting neatly into one musical category. His work draws from classical, folk, and electronic influences, often combining instruments and sounds that wouldn’t ordinarily seem destined to share the same stage.
Performing solo, Wolf moved between keyboard, guitar, violin, and what appeared to be a lyre, using extensive live looping to build musical arrangements layer by layer. Rather than relying on a backing band, he created much of the musical landscape himself, adding and combining sounds until the individual pieces became something considerably larger. Watching him construct these compositions in real time reminded me of seeing Imogen Heap perform back in 2006. There was something similarly fascinating about watching a single musician create an entire musical landscape through technology, traditional instrumentation, and a willingness to experiment. Twenty years later, that approach to live performance remains just as captivating.
Wolf also took a moment to acknowledge the approaching 20th anniversary of his 2007 album The Magic Position. Recognizing that he probably wouldn’t be making his way back through Omaha for the anniversary celebrations, he decided to give the audience a little something in advance, performing select tracks from the album. It was a thoughtful gesture for longtime fans and another example of how Wolf made the evening feel like more than just another stop on his tour.
But as interesting as the music itself was, Wolf’s stories between songs were just as memorable. At one point, he spoke about conversations he’d had with fans who seemed to be experiencing their own existential crises. Wolf admitted that he understood those feelings because he experiences them himself. He described waking up each morning and making the conscious decision to keep going. It was a remarkably candid moment, delivered without unnecessary drama. Just an acknowledgment that life can be difficult, that sometimes simply continuing takes effort, and that there is comfort in knowing other people understand.
And then there was the story about the pigs. Wolf recalled spending time at the beginning of the tour on an abandoned ranch near Joshua Tree, California, that happened to be for sale. The property had pigs, and the surrounding atmosphere apparently felt so deserted that he compared it to a ghost town. Somewhere in that experience, Wolf found himself imagining his new identity as a “gay ghost pig rancher.”
It’s difficult to imagine a more unexpected turn in a concert’s between-song conversation, but that was part of the charm. Wolf could move from discussing the weight of existence to recounting a wonderfully absurd experience in the California desert without either moment feeling out of place.
His interactions with the audience were equally entertaining. At one point early in this set, Wolf discovered he’d misplaced his last guitar pick, joking about how a musician should never allow themselves to get down to their final pick, yet there he was. Fortunately, someone in the audience happened to have a spare in their pocket and came to his rescue, saving Wolf from having to strum his guitar with his thumb.
It was a wonderfully spontaneous moment that reinforced just how personal and informal the evening had become. There was no elaborate production to hide behind, no backing band to fill the silence, and apparently no emergency supply of guitar picks. Just a musician, his instruments, and an audience more than willing to help him out.
That balance between vulnerability, humor, and genuine human connection became one of the defining characteristics of the evening. For an artist whose career has included considerable success, a lengthy retreat from the music industry, and a more recent return to performing for North American audiences, there was something particularly meaningful about hearing Wolf speak so openly about perseverance.
His 2025 album Crying the Neck marked an important chapter in that return, while the current Tour of the Beast Part Two continues his reconnection with audiences who have followed his work for years, along with those discovering him for the first time. What made Sunday night’s performance memorable wasn’t spectacle or volume. It was the opportunity to watch two artists approach their music with curiosity, sincerity, and a willingness to share pieces of themselves with an audience willing to listen.
Sometimes a concert doesn’t need walls of amplifiers, elaborate lighting, or a packed circle pit to leave an impression. Sometimes all it takes is a harp named Romeo, a musician building songs one layer at a time, a few deeply personal stories, a borrowed guitar pick, and a squeaky door that nobody would have noticed at a metal show.
