Once upon a time there was Josh Ritter, and he was good but not that exciting. He was also playing a show in Vancouver the day after the Mountain Goats, leaving a certain girl to wonder, "which of these bands that I am really only lukewarm on shall I go to see?" Then a certain girl saw a certain video, and the decision was made.
Look at that! They actually explode! After watching this video, I was certain that Josh Ritter was the man I must see live. So off we trotted, my cousin and I, to the Commodore Ballroom on Friday the 23rd. The show was flawless, apart from the set list (which I now have). For some reason, Joshipoo decided to OPEN with his two BEST SONGS. This is never a good plan, as it will cause many members of the audience (myself included) to wonder "why am I still here?" Not, of course, that there weren't other highlights after "Mind's Eye" and "To the Dogs or Whoever" (which really did explode, as promised), but they were few and far between. One "Girl in the War" sing-along does not a concert make, my friends. And it's best really if you don't get me started on the pitiful encore.
Don't get me wrong, it was a great show, and Josh and the band had amazing energy. In my experience, however, the biggest most exciting song is saved for the end, perhaps even the encore. NOT, as Josh would have it, the first five minutes.
He totally touched my hand though, it was awesome.
That is all.
3 comments:
Hi. Was looking for reviews of the show. I was there too, seeing him for the first time. I was blown away by the entire night. Sure there were songs that he didn't play that I'd like to have heard, but what concert did that NOT happen? I thought his performance was one for the books (as I hear most of his are) regardless of which tunes were played where. Would you go see him again?
Oh I agree the concert was great. Really well done, very high energy, etc. I just feel like he opened with the songs I was most looking forward to so it was kind of a letdown from there.
And yes, I would probably see him again. Dude has stage presence.
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