John Maus kicked off the 2019 leg of his tour in support of last year’s Addendum the end of January, and he hit Philadelphia’s Union Transfer last week. He also hit himself. And the air. And screamed and contorted his body and jumped up and down—all while dressed like a soccer dad after a week-long bender. Maus’ onstage delivery is somewhere between performance art, a nervous breakdown and karaoke, and the philosophizing synth whiz leaves it all on the stage, where he performs solo with his prerecorded music. British cult eccentric Nick Nicely opened the show, his face obscured by some sort of white scarf. For the first time in his life, MAGNET photographer Chris Sikich was the most normal guy in the room.
