Its been awhile since I’ve been to a show, but this past week I had not one but 4 shows to photograph. The first show of the week set the bar very high for the other three shows. I must say this show made it into my top five of all time favorite shows. I left the venue blown away, but also rejuvenated in music again. What I mean is, I felt like I just saw my first concert and words can’t describe how amazing the experience was. I probably shouldn’t even write anything because it won’t justified, but I will try.
Starting the night was New York resident Sean Rowe. With a deep voice and smooth sounding guitar, Sean is a true musician. With the help from Rex, playing miscellaneous instruments, you’d be surprised how loud this duo can sound. Also Sean can add some very interesting effects to his acoustic guitar, something I rarely hear during a show. Sean Rowe played his inspiring set featuring songs from his latest offering, Madman, and a cover of “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins. Which if you close your eyes, you would think it was Edwyn on stage and not Sean Rowe. Sean closed his set solo which led to a thunderous applause. I’m fairly sure a good amount of people in attendance were already fans, but I think Sean gained a lot more new fans.
Listen: https://seanrowemusic.bandcamp.com/album/madman
When you hit a certain age, finding new bands can be a struggle. Sure you listen to many, many, bands, but nothing sticks out anymore. It is almost like you’ve heard it all before or nothing speaks to you the way it did when you were in high school. Then along comes my buddy Billy, http://needforreed.com/ I met Billy on my second tour while he was a roadie with the bad Sullivan. Years later, Billy is still a road dog and he posts a video on Facebook of a band he tours with performing on Letterman. Curious, and thinking that is huge, I watch. I probably watched the video three more times and shared it. That video was of St. Paul And The Broken Bones and I was just blown away. I am pretty sure I went out two days later and bought the album on vinyl just from hearing one song. Does that even happen to anyone anymore? Taken a chance on a band like that after one song? It was worth it to me. So now here we are, finally seeing them for the first time, and I wish I could see them again. I would bring along a lot more people, because everyone needs to see this band live. On record they sound amazing, but live is a whole other story. Lead singer Paul Janeway leaves you sweating as much as he does on stage. His vocals are breath taking, I think Eli Paperboy Reed has some competition. The rest of the band sounded beyond amazing. Guitarist Browan Lollar has a very unique stage presence. It constantly looked like he is not only laying the music, but feeling the music. For only having one album out, St. Paul filled an hour with there songs, covers, and talks in between songs. The highlight cover for me was celebrating the anniversary of Otis Blue by Otis Redding, the band covered “Shake”. I think Otis himself was present in Paul Janeway’s vocals. I am glad this show was sold out, it shows that people know St. Paul And The Broken Bones and I hope next time they come around they are in a bigger venue. Paul Janeway was right, he said two years before this he was a bank teller and now he is performing on stage almost every night. He said dreams do come true, and I am glad I helped that happen for him.
http://stpaulandthebrokenbones.com/
Favorite Sights & Sounds 