[others say God's a drunkard for pain]
When Josh Ritter sings, "& that's still a long way from the place where we are," my knees forget to ache and my legs forget to cramp. The seat will still be uncomfortable, too close to the row in front of me (and this must be what it feels like to be tall), so close my legs don't fit unless I turn half to the side ("hello, strange hipster boy sitting next to me"). It's hot in the balcony, and at first I think the girl in front of me is stripping down to her bra, but of course she's wearing a camisole, of course. She leans over to kiss her boyfriend.
(Earlier, in the Starbucks, a guy in a "Keith Richards for President" t-shirt swoops down into tangleofthorns's old seat. We dash for a just-opened table. Musical chairs, and me with my dirty chai.)
Opening act, Dawn Landes, and an usher tries to blind me with her flashlight. (Why must people come late to concerts, why? Especially if the show's not GA, and your coming in halfway through the opening act means an entire row of people need to stand, shuffle, do the twist and the electric slide to let you through, when your coming in late means inconveniencing everyone behind you.) Her mic's placed in just the wrong spot, so I watch the back of the head of a freakishly tall bloke five rows in front of me for most of the set, but her voice reminded me a bit of Dar Williams and a bit of someone I can't quite place, and it was a lovely match, musically, for Josh's acoustic set.
And then Josh, who is doing this raspier, rougher, thing with his voice than he did the previous two times we've seen him. Josh and his guitar, two lamps on a table for a band, and him in his suit with his cute and funny banter. A duet with Dawn on "All the Pretty Little Horses," where they moved to sit/stand/something out of our visual range, so the entire first part of the song was accompanied by the squeaking and shifting of a whole crowd of people, leaning and standing and finally sitting back down and just listening. A good show-- one I'm sure tangleofthorns will describe in more detail, full of set lists and analysis and brilliant commentary-- and a good time, aches and pains notwithstanding, is had by all.
(Earlier, in the Starbucks, a guy in a "Keith Richards for President" t-shirt swoops down into tangleofthorns's old seat. We dash for a just-opened table. Musical chairs, and me with my dirty chai.)
Opening act, Dawn Landes, and an usher tries to blind me with her flashlight. (Why must people come late to concerts, why? Especially if the show's not GA, and your coming in halfway through the opening act means an entire row of people need to stand, shuffle, do the twist and the electric slide to let you through, when your coming in late means inconveniencing everyone behind you.) Her mic's placed in just the wrong spot, so I watch the back of the head of a freakishly tall bloke five rows in front of me for most of the set, but her voice reminded me a bit of Dar Williams and a bit of someone I can't quite place, and it was a lovely match, musically, for Josh's acoustic set.
And then Josh, who is doing this raspier, rougher, thing with his voice than he did the previous two times we've seen him. Josh and his guitar, two lamps on a table for a band, and him in his suit with his cute and funny banter. A duet with Dawn on "All the Pretty Little Horses," where they moved to sit/stand/something out of our visual range, so the entire first part of the song was accompanied by the squeaking and shifting of a whole crowd of people, leaning and standing and finally sitting back down and just listening. A good show-- one I'm sure tangleofthorns will describe in more detail, full of set lists and analysis and brilliant commentary-- and a good time, aches and pains notwithstanding, is had by all.