Kevin Bronson on August 8th, 2017

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Sunday’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl could have easily been billed as “A Conversation With Belle & Sebastian,” so chatty was frontman Stuart Murdoch.

The amiable Scotsman, just short of his 49th birthday, recalled the previous time the indie favorites played the Hollywood Bowl: “Let me see if I recognize anyone from last time. Anyone get married since then?” One couple in the crowd then raised their hands, and Stuart asked, “Is it going well?” and the couple happily nodded. Interspersed with selections from Belle & Sebastian’s nine-album catalog, Murdoch also shared a tip he received from Selena Gomez, his affection for the Dodgers (“The Dodgers are my second favorite team … this year”) and his recent exploration of Buddhism. Combining the latter two, he invited the crowd to join him in a seventh-inning stretch — but instead of singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” he asked the crowd to chant “om.” They obliged, erupting in a big cheer afterward.

The set ended with Murdoch running into the crowd and coercing about 30 fans out of their seats and onto the stage to dance to the final two songs.

Spoon preceded Belle & Sebastian with an energetic set, with frontman Britt Daniel mistakenly saying it was the band’s first performance at the Bowl (they played with Beck and MGMT in 2008). Nevertheless, they were typically crisp, and included a smattering of songs from their ninth album, “Hot Thoughts,” released in March.

Kristin Kontrol opened the night.

Belle and Sebastian setlist: Act of the Apostle, I’m a Cuckoo, We Were Beautiful, Seeing Other People, Another Sunny Day, Perfect Couple, Piazza New York Catcher, Little Lou, Like Dylan In The Movies, Play For Today, Simple Things, The Boy With the Arab Strap, I Didn’t See it Coming, Judy and The Dream of Horses, Encore: Lazy Line, Painter Jane, Party Line

Spoon setlist: Do I Have to Talk You Into It, Inside Out, Camera, Hot Thoughts, Don’t You Evah, Do You, Via Kanella, I Ain’t The One, Anything You Want, Can I Sit Next To You, Mathematical, Don’t Make Me a Target, Underdog, Got Nuffin, Rent I Pay

Photos by Jessica Hanley