Wednesday night Jon and made a quick jaunt over to Athens, Ga. to see Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band at the 40 Watt Club. This was my third Josh Ritter concert, and, frankly, it had a hard act to follow: at my first show, Jon and I got engaged; at the second, which was a week before our wedding, we got to meet Josh. (More background on how I discovered Josh’s music and how it came to soundtrack big life events here.)
Jon and I both agreed this concert was not as awesome as the previous two — though I still can’t put my finger on why — but it was a solid show. It was interesting to see them playing such a small club, and to a crowd full of college kids. (When I went to the bathroom at the end of the concert, there was a girl holding her friend’s hair back as she puked into the trash can. Oh, Athens.)
Although the vibe in the audience felt different to me, the energy on stage was as ebullient as it always is. Seriously, whatever Josh Ritter has for dinner before he plays a show, I need to stock up on that shit. He seems like he’s the happiest person alive when he’s playing music, whether alone or with his band. (Note: If you have no idea who Josh Ritter is and want to check him out, I recommend starting with Hello Starling or The Animal Years, the middle of his six albums.)
Josh started the show with a solo “Come and Find Me” and a wide grin
While I don’t think anyone goes to Josh Ritter concerts to hear songs exactly as they are on recordings, they probably don’t expect a lot of surprises either. This show was a little different from the others in that regard: the band seemed looser and sillier than I’ve seen them before, which was kinda fun. They threw in some funky disco beats here and there and took more time for improvisational and solo bits. Josh kissed and waltzed around with his guitar during an instrumental break in The Curse; he stage-pattered a transition into a raucous Talking Heads cover in the middle of Harrisburg; and just two songs later, with the band offstage, had the lights extinguished, unplugged his guitar and stepped away from the mic to sing an earnest, stripped-down rendition of Thin Blue Flame into the crowd. The set list drew from every album except his first, so we got a wide range of Josh Ritter tunes and styles.
Josh and the band
My favorite song of the night was probably Real Long Distance — they played the hell out of it and were having an awesome time doing it. Kathleen is always a sentimental favorite, as you might expect, and this time Josh told the audience he wanted to turn it into a mass slow-dance. After the bridge, the band relaxed into a pretty hilarious “sexy” slow-jams groove to set the mood.
Please excuse the terrible photos — my point-and-shoot camera full-on died after one picture (and it wasn’t just the battery) so I had to make do with my cell phone.
I’ve rambled on enough already, so here’s the set list:
1. Come and Find Me
2. Good Man
3. Lillian, Egypt
4. Southern Pacifica
5. The Curse
6. Real Long Distance
7. Rattling Locks
8. Harrisburg/Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads cover)
9. The Temptation of Adam
10. Thin Blue Flame
11. Pale Blue Eyes (Velvet Underground cover)
12. Rumors
13. Right moves
14. Kathleen (with slow jams dance break)
15. Lantern
16. Change of time
17. Galahad
18. [Joe Pug (opening act) - new unidentified song]
19. To the dogs or whoever
Austin Nevins, Sam Kassirer, Josh Ritter, Liam Hurley & Zack Hickman take a bow at the end of the night
Overall, it was another great night spent with Josh and the band. This tour wrapped up last night in Charlottesville, Va., but keep an eye out for the next time they’re on the road. Check Josh out if you don’t know his music!
