Josh Ritter, Sermon On The Rocks
/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrBAdzACig0 Josh Ritter stopped by South Burlington's Higher Ground the other day, and I went up with a couple of friends to see him. I've seen Ritter and his band a couple of times already, and he puts on a decent show.
This wasn't my favorite concert of his that I've seen: the setlist didn't work for me as much as I'd have liked: he held most of the songs off of his new album, Sermon on the Rocks until the very end, which is a shame, because it's one kickass album. I stayed through until I heard Homecoming, though - it's turned into one of my favorite songs.
Homecoming is one fantastic album, one that channels Paul Simon a great deal. There were some of the other brilliant songs: Henrietta, Indiana and Getting Ready To Get Down were in there (that one was great to see live) and there were some other good ones from this and earlier albums. It just didn't click together. Still, it was a fun night: I ran into three high school classmates that I haven't seen in years - ten minute catchups on everything that's happened in the last decade and a bit.
Sermon on the Rocks is something that you should pick up and listen to, though. Ritter's one of those artists who has steadily gotten better over every album - after already starting from a great first album.
One thing I realized: I really miss live shows.