Father John Misty‘s new album doesn’t arrive until April, though a pair of singles from it released earlier this year hinted at the lushly cinematic direction of his first new collection in four years.

So, yes, it made a lot of sense that for a one-off pre-release show at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Friday the singer-songwriter known offstage as Josh Tillman would have the Los Angeles Philharmonic to join him on their home stage.

There’s a risk, of course, in these mashups of rock bands and orchestras regularly seen at Disney Hall, and even more at the Hollywood Bowl. If the band is too loud, if the arrangements too soft, it can all feel a bit pointless, watching the violins play, hearing only guitars and drums.

This, though, was one of the great ones, with Father John Misty, the eight guys in his band, and the orchestra blending beautifully over 20 songs scattered over an hour and 40 minutes.

The opening numbers, “I Love You, Honeybear,” and “Hangout at the Gallows,” only hinted at how well this collaboration would work. The strings were lush, the brass added depth.

With “Mr. Tillman,” though, the night started to shine, as the percussive pizzicato playing of the strings backed Tillman on his whistling outro to the tune.

“Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)” slipped into a Latin groove with maracas and the orchestra’s brass section behind Father John Misty’s trumpet soloist. “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me” featured Tillman’s big soulful vocals over the string section.

This performance with the LA Phil had originally been scheduled for two nights at the Ford amphitheater in September before COVID concerns canceled that plan.

That might have been a blessing, though, for both the sterling acoustics of Disney Hall and the fact that the new songs debuted on Friday had a chance to find familiarity with fans.

“Q4,” the second single released off the forthcoming “Chloë and the Next 20th Century,” arrived midway through the show. Its synthesized harpsichord melody and orchestration nailed a certain kind of ’60s baroque pop style.

“Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings,” the 2012 single that brought Father John Misty to the attention of many, followed with Tillman playing electric guitar for the only time all night, and most of his band sitting out in favor of the orchestral backing.

Highlights in the second half of the set included “Ballad of the Dying Man,” which showed off the falsetto Tillman uses to great effect.

“Funny Girl,” a single released in January, stepped even further back in musical time than “Q4.” Its arrangement sounded like part of the soundtrack to a ’50s romance with the orchestra at its lushest from the strings that swelled at the start to the glissando run by the harpist at the finish.

It was followed by another of Tillman’s best compositions, “Pure Comedy,” a song that explains the occasional comparisons of Tillman to Randy Newman. (Harry Nilsson is another common touchstone, and it’s true, their wry, dark humor set against sweet melodies is similar.)

The main set ended with “God’s Favorite Customer” and a song that begins with the word “Holy” and ends with one we can’t print, after which the band left the stage for a moment, the orchestra for good.

With just Tillman and his band for the encore, the concert wrapped up like a rock and roll show, with fans on their feet for the first time all night for “Total Entertainment.”

Tillman, who didn’t talk as much on stage as he often does – a shame, for he can be a very funny frontman – did his usual shimmy strut a few times while the orchestra was behind him.

But “Date Night,” which closed out the show, saw him unleashed. As the band played a bluesy, sax-fueled rocker not all that far removed from a Rolling Stones groove, Tillman pranced and strutted like Mick Jagger, waving to the cheering fans on all sides of the stage until the moment he vanished offstage.

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