April 28 2008: Josh Ritter - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
Caitlin and I went down to New York to see some friends and Josh Ritter. Who was pretty good. Show started out really well with "Naked as a Window" and "Mind's Eye," and he did "Come and Find Me" about halfway through, which I don't think I'd ever seen live before, and it was pretty good. "Here at the Right Time" was great, as usual, and it went right into "Wings," which I don't think I've heard live since the first time I saw him and which was hands down the best tune of the night. The lights were all the way off and you could just barely make out Ritter's form on stage, singing about little towns in Idaho and eastern Washington. I used to adore that song. Then I didn't listen to it very much. I'm going to start listening to it again.
Really, the whole show was great. But I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth cause three out of the last four songs he played just frustrated the shit out of me. "Empty Heart" is one of my favorite songs ever, but Ritter thought it might be fun/amusing/endearing to stop the song halfway through and discuss how nice the guy running the sound is. And that's fine. The sound guy can be nice. He can be an upstanding citizen. He can be a fucking pillar of society. But I don't need "Empty Heart" to be stopped halfway through to hear about it. And I especially don't need to be encouraged to dance to a little waltzy tune that Ritter's decided would be fun to play in the middle of "Kathleen." Instead, I need brilliant songs to be taken seriously and for "Kathleen" to be played like it ought to be played. I could go to the comedy club open mic if I wanted to hear stupid jokes about sound guys and even stupider jokes about dancing. I don't go to Ritter shows for comedy. I go to hear brilliant songs. And I especially don't go to watch a juggling routine in the middle of "Lillian, Egypt." I'd go to the fucking circus for that. I just want to hear brilliant songs played seriously.
So yeah. Great show, spoiled at the end by that sort of stuff. Which, to Ritter's credit, the crowd loved. Big cheers, big smiles on everyone's faces, etc. But I'd appreciate it if he didn't go for so many cheap laughs at the expense of the songs.
Really, the whole show was great. But I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth cause three out of the last four songs he played just frustrated the shit out of me. "Empty Heart" is one of my favorite songs ever, but Ritter thought it might be fun/amusing/endearing to stop the song halfway through and discuss how nice the guy running the sound is. And that's fine. The sound guy can be nice. He can be an upstanding citizen. He can be a fucking pillar of society. But I don't need "Empty Heart" to be stopped halfway through to hear about it. And I especially don't need to be encouraged to dance to a little waltzy tune that Ritter's decided would be fun to play in the middle of "Kathleen." Instead, I need brilliant songs to be taken seriously and for "Kathleen" to be played like it ought to be played. I could go to the comedy club open mic if I wanted to hear stupid jokes about sound guys and even stupider jokes about dancing. I don't go to Ritter shows for comedy. I go to hear brilliant songs. And I especially don't go to watch a juggling routine in the middle of "Lillian, Egypt." I'd go to the fucking circus for that. I just want to hear brilliant songs played seriously.
So yeah. Great show, spoiled at the end by that sort of stuff. Which, to Ritter's credit, the crowd loved. Big cheers, big smiles on everyone's faces, etc. But I'd appreciate it if he didn't go for so many cheap laughs at the expense of the songs.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 8:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home