Jason Molina Tribute at EartH Theatre Draws a Crowd He Never Saw in Life

Jason Molina rarely played rooms this size in London while he was alive. On Wednesday at EartH Theatre, a little over thirteen years after his death at 39, a near-capacity crowd gathered for a tribute to the Songs:Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co songwriter. The attendance said more about his posthumous reach than any press cycle could.

The evening opened with an hour-long slideshow introduced by Molina’s widow, Darcie. The footage moved from early, loose performances to his final shows in the late 2000s. The early clips complicate the familiar portrait of Molina as a tortured figure: he is younger, goofier, less burdened. The selection ends in a different register, with a montage soundtracked by a live rendition of “Hold on Magnolia.” The couplet “You might be the last light I see / Before the dark gets a hold of me” landed with the weight of an unintended farewell. When the lights came on, much of the room was in tears.

Norfolk band Brown Horse started their set with a rollicking take on “I’ve Been Riding With The Ghost,” with Patrick Turner handling Molina’s material with a capable, unshowy intensity. Across twelve songs, the band was joined by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, Goat Girl’s Lottie Pendlebury, and Molina collaborators Alasdair Roberts and Max Winter. The guest list crossed generations — peers and younger musicians — which made the communal element feel earned rather than ceremonial. Elanor Moss’s quiet readings of “Hammer Down” and “Whip-Poor-Will” stood out among the fuller arrangements. The setlist held both the band at its loudest and Molina’s songs at their most desolate.