Josh Ritter: in Ireland!
“I play rock ’n’ roll with lots of words.” – Josh Ritter.
Anyone who knows me, and anyone who pays attention to this blog (Hi, Mom!) knows that I absolutely, completely, love Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band.
I’ve seen Josh Ritter and his band play in some pretty cool places. Club Cafe in Pittsburgh, before they got “big.” (Big being relative, because they still aren’t anywhere near big). At a free concert in downtown Salt Lake City, and, later that same week, at the Mile High Music Festival in Denver. With the New York City Pops backing the band in Central Park.
But, without a doubt, my favorite show was the one we saw at the Galway Arts Festival. Maybe it was because it had been a while since we heard really, really good live music. (The guy with the green plastic kazoo later that night notwithstanding). Maybe it was because we were part of the biggest crowd in front of which Sean and I had ever seen the band play. Maybe it was because the band seemed really on that night. Maybe it was because they love Josh Ritter and the band in Ireland, and so do I.
As my cousin Karen would say, Josh Ritter makes my heart happy. I’m not the first person to say it, and I won’t be the last: Josh’s smile is downright infectious. You can’t help but smile too.
Our friend McIntyre joined us for the show. Is he on drugs, he wanted to know? No, I said. He’s always like that.
From the moment the band took the stage with bright lights bouncing to the beat of Lantern, from the new album, to the encore, which included one of my favorites, Snow is Gone, there was energy in the air. One or two songs from one of their older albums, The Golden Age of Radio, usually sneaks in, but is rare to hear Roll On and Me and Jiggs, more favorites of mine. The new album was well represented, of course, but so were the last couple of albums. I always like to hear what sort of creative spin the band puts on Harrisburg, a song born to be played live. I certainly was not expecting an insertion of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game sung by Zack Hickman, the bassist. And, I’m not sure, but I swear I heard a bit of the Talking Head’s Once in a Lifetime as well.
I had been wanting to see Josh and the band play in Ireland for a long time. The show in Galway will definitely be one of my highlights of the trip.
Hi, daughter. 🙂 It always makes me happy when your heart is happy ~ someone should tell Josh Ritter what a fan you are that you would follow him all the way to Ireland ~ he really must be THAT good!
Wow, Amy, those pictures are incredible! Makes me feel like I’m right there… I can totally imagine it. His smile IS infectious! Sounds like they played some interesting songs. Can’t wait till he comes around here again.