Speedy Ortiz | Tiny Desk Concert - JME - The Jacksonville Music Experience

Ten years ago, sometime after Speedy Ortiz transformed itself from a Sadie Dupuis solo project into a functioning rock band, its jagged and clever early singles caught the attention of NPR Music’s Lars Gotrich. So we reached out to inquire about a Tiny Desk concert, only to learn that the timing wasn’t quite right: The group didn’t have any days off and its members were concerned they wouldn’t sound their best, so they responded to our request with a question of their own. “Can we do it later?”

Photo: Zayrha Rodriguez

Now, Speedy Ortiz is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its debut album, Major Arcana — and finally making good on that offer to come back another time, though it should be noted that Dupuis’ side project Sad13 did play a killer Tiny Desk (home) concert back in 2020. But this set stands as a definitive Speedy Ortiz time capsule, bringing together band members of the past and present while capturing one song from each of the group’s four albums: “The Graduates” (from 2015’s Foil Deer), “Scabs” (from the new Rabbit Rabbit), “Lucky 88” (from 2018’s Twerp Verse) and “Plough” (from Major Arcana). It’s truly a performance 10 years in the making, not to mention an ideal showcase for the band’s wiry, eternally quotable charm. Even the stuffed bunnies seem impressed.

SET LIST