Brothers. Buddies. Bromantic partners. Call them whatever you want, but Kevin Devine, Andy Hull, and Robert McDowell made the most of their last stop on tour together. Spending a few weeks traveling in a van can easily make enemies out of people, but the boys – who make up three parts of a side project called Bad Books – were in high spirits at the Orpheum on Sunday night. On a day when 97X’s Next Big Thing supposedly showcased what was hot in music, Devine, Hull, and McDowell gave Tampa the perfect nightcap.

McDowell – who plays guitar in Manchester Orchestra with Hull – moonlights as Gobotron and opened the show by taking the stage with just a Gibson hollow body in hand. His seven-song set was mostly somber, but his vocal inflected a lot of the pained emotion of Hull’s vocal delivery, and the crowd seemed to pick up on that. They watched patiently and were treated to McDowell’s impassioned delivery of fuzzy power chords and self-loathing lyrics like, “I’ve seen myself/ and I know I’m a bastard.” And while the subject matter may have been serious, the most memorable thing about the show was the way the three songwriters played off of each other and cracked jokes during their sets.

When Hull took the stage to play “Just Stay” with Devine, a loud female voice botched an effort to sing along. Hull playfully acknowledged the gaffe by saying “Give it up for MIA everybody…shut the fuck up,” as the audience erupted in laughter. Light-hearted moments like the brilliantly harmonized “Barry Bonds,” Devine’s “Kareem Abdul-Jabar,” and the debut of his first rap song – “Thanklin Franklin” – brought smiles to everyone’s faces, but this show was a showcase of songwriters for sure.

After Hull did a solo take of a sobering new Manchester Orchestra “song about the unfortunate event of having a miscarriage,” it was eerie to see how silent a few minutes of confessional lyrics could leave a crowd. He also rearranged old favorites like “I Can Barely Breathe,” and new played material from his Right Away, Great Captain! project, which he said is on hold while Manchester releases a new record. His cover of Weezer’s “Butterfly” was touching, but what was most impressive about the night was seeing Devine dip deep into his own nearly decade old catalog.

At 30-years-old, the redheaded Brooklyn-based songwriter is the elder statesman on tour, and he surely played the part. He has developed a confident stage presence, and it was a treat to see how strong his voice has become when he played “Tapdance” from 2003’s Make the Clocks Move. What started as a boyish-warble has molted into a crystal-clear, well enunciated delivery well suited to deliver the type of sharp, topical lyrics Devine has come to be known for.

His gift for alliteration was on display on Brother’s Blood outtake, “She Stayed As Steam,” and despite having a new Commander In Chief in office, his anti-war message on “No Time Flat” was just as potent as it was when he first released the song four years ago. No telling if Hull is to credit for it, but Devine has become completely comfortable on stage and took many opportunities to acknowledge the crowd. Hearing him joke about trying to emulate Jay-Z’s stage presence was hilarious, and it was easy forget that underneath all of the humble humor was one of the best songwriters of our generation.

While he recreated the multi-instrument wall of sound from “Carnival” by simply strumming color chords on the guitar, most impressive was Devine’s ability to cleanly finger pick meticulous arrangements. Where some songwriters use open tunings to add depth to solo-acoustic arrangements, “Brooklyn Boy” saw Devine turn his hands into a precise, fast-moving machine in order to play moving melody lines on top of chords.

All in all, over 30 songs were played and the night went on forever. At 15 bucks a pop the show as well worth it, and while the crowd seemed attentive and appreciative, it was Devine and Hull who seemed most humbled. Over the course of the evening’s two-and-a-half hours, they both sincerely thanked their fans for showing up over and over again on a school night. “I really want to thank you all for being here,” said Hull before launching into a song, “I know you all have got other shit to do.”

Setlist

01. Casper, The Holy Ghost $
02. Tapdance $
03. Brooklyn Boy $
04. Another Bag Of Bones $
05. She Stayed As Steam $
06. Kareem Abdul-Jabar $
07. No Time Flat $
08. Carnival $
09. Yr Damned Ol’ Dad $
10. Brother’s Blood $
11. Just Stay $@
12. Cotton Crush $@
13. Holding Down the Laughter $@+
14. Barry Bonds $@+
15. Baby Shoes *^+
16. Butterfly (Weezer cover) $@+
17. Mesa, AZ $@+
18. You Wouldn’t Have To Ask $@+
19. Please Move $@+
20. Wolves at Night $@+
21. Thanklin Franklin $@+
22. I Can Barely Breathe $@+
23. Shake It Out $
24. (New Mancherster Orchestra Song) $
25. Fresh Start Booze $
26. The Big Bad Devil (New Song) $
27. 100 Dollars $+
28. The River $+
29. Mean Everything To Nothing $+
30. Colly Strings
31. Where Have You Been $@+
32. Wasted Your Entire Life (New Song) $@+

$ = Kevin Devine
@ = Andy Hull
+ = w/ Robert McDowell