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Josh Ritter Setlist
Tour Dates
02/16—Toronto, ON—The Phoenix*
02/17—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground* 02/18—New Haven, CT—College Street Music Hall* 02/19—Boston, MA—House of Blues* 02/20—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre* 02/21—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer* 02/23—Washington, DC—9:30 Club* 02/25—Durham, NC—Caroline Theatre† 02/26—Atlanta, GA—Terminal West† 02/27—Nashville, TN—Cannery Ballroom† 02/28—Louisville, KY—Headliners Music Hall† 02/29—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre† 05/22—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre‡ *with support from Elephant Revival †with support from Barnstar ‡supporting Elephant Revival Read More
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“Let’s see where the night takes us, let’s see where the night goes”—
More than just a lyric from the latest single from Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band, it seemed to also be a mission statement for the evening and Ritter and band’s buoyant 105 min performance at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis.
Nederland, CO five-piece “transcendental folk” ensemble Elephant Revival got the evening rolling with a tight 40 min set of homegrown music, culled from their three previous full-length studio releases, and they also mentioned new music was forthcoming with upcoming album, Petals (on Thirty Tigers Records) due out April 1 (and assured Minneapolis they’d be back in the spring too).
The progressive folk band enraptured the theater audience with their own blend of the genre, and featured instruments such as cello, washboard, banjo, stand-up bass, pedal steel, and saw played with violin bow, guided by the songwriting and vocals of Daniel Rodriguez and Bonnie Paine.
The band impressed with 2008’s ‘Ring Around the Moon’ and ‘Single Beds are Made for One’, and ‘Grace of a Woman’ from their last album, and the upcoming album is produced by Royal City Band’s keyboardist, Sam Kassirer, so the music had a natural fit for the evening.
Having just appeared on Conan the previous night, Josh Ritter emerged by himself with an acoustic guitar under a dim spotlight, in the same one-piece paint-spattered that he wore on TV and new album cover, to start things with the gentle ode to his home state, ‘Idaho’.
The band entered and volume increased for ‘Birds of the Meadow’ which was interlaced with a snippet of a Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration, which all flowed seamlessly. The River City Band proved drum head tight, anchored by Zack Hickman on bass (whose waxed moustache is unique and who we saw last fall leading Ray LaMontagne’s band) and was filled out by Sam Kassirer – piano, organ, accordion; Austin Nevins – guitar, lap steel; and Liam Hurley – drums.
Ritter mentioned that he hadn’t forgotten that he was honored to be playing near the headwaters of the Mississippi, speaking above the over-zealous screaming from the theater’s left side. Tracks from the band’s latest, last October’s Sermon on the Rocks (Pytheas Recordings) were peppered in liberally amongst older favorites.
The organ and guitar instrumental break on the new ‘Seeing Me Round’ painted an aural multi-layered picture, as or more expressive than the abstract backdrop that was draped behind the band.
A solo mini-set, about two-thirds through, began with the prematurely sung but crowd favorite ‘Snow is Gone’ (as it’s only January in Minnesota) with Ritter commenting “this incredible theater is like…being inside a beautiful wedding cake…and we’re all in the cake!”, Ritter joked.
Ritter’s brand of Americana is one of a troubadour on the road, sometimes lonely, sometimes haunting; no more evident than when he covered Roger Miller’s ‘Engine Engine #9’ from 1965, an obvious hero of his. Guitar and bass rejoined him for the rising ‘Bonfire’ with the rest of the band returning for the toe-tapping ‘Getting Ready to Get Down’.
The two-song encore started gently with 2010’s dreamy ‘Change of Time’ as a solo piece, then ended in an exclamation with the clap-along, foot-stomping to 2007’s ‘To the Dogs or Whoever’ and its rapid-fire lyrics over a booming bass drum beat.
The night ended up taking us on the road, on a virtual journey with Josh Ritter and the River City Band, all without leaving the confines of a venue that looked like a “beautiful wedding cake”.
Ritter and band are currently on a brief touring break, resuming in two weeks, but are also featured on this Saturday’s CBS Morning Show, which is worth tuning in for.
More than just a lyric from the latest single from Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band, it seemed to also be a mission statement for the evening and Ritter and band’s buoyant 105 min performance at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis.
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Elephant Revival |
The progressive folk band enraptured the theater audience with their own blend of the genre, and featured instruments such as cello, washboard, banjo, stand-up bass, pedal steel, and saw played with violin bow, guided by the songwriting and vocals of Daniel Rodriguez and Bonnie Paine.
The band impressed with 2008’s ‘Ring Around the Moon’ and ‘Single Beds are Made for One’, and ‘Grace of a Woman’ from their last album, and the upcoming album is produced by Royal City Band’s keyboardist, Sam Kassirer, so the music had a natural fit for the evening.
Having just appeared on Conan the previous night, Josh Ritter emerged by himself with an acoustic guitar under a dim spotlight, in the same one-piece paint-spattered that he wore on TV and new album cover, to start things with the gentle ode to his home state, ‘Idaho’.
The band entered and volume increased for ‘Birds of the Meadow’ which was interlaced with a snippet of a Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration, which all flowed seamlessly. The River City Band proved drum head tight, anchored by Zack Hickman on bass (whose waxed moustache is unique and who we saw last fall leading Ray LaMontagne’s band) and was filled out by Sam Kassirer – piano, organ, accordion; Austin Nevins – guitar, lap steel; and Liam Hurley – drums.
Ritter mentioned that he hadn’t forgotten that he was honored to be playing near the headwaters of the Mississippi, speaking above the over-zealous screaming from the theater’s left side. Tracks from the band’s latest, last October’s Sermon on the Rocks (Pytheas Recordings) were peppered in liberally amongst older favorites.
The organ and guitar instrumental break on the new ‘Seeing Me Round’ painted an aural multi-layered picture, as or more expressive than the abstract backdrop that was draped behind the band.
A solo mini-set, about two-thirds through, began with the prematurely sung but crowd favorite ‘Snow is Gone’ (as it’s only January in Minnesota) with Ritter commenting “this incredible theater is like…being inside a beautiful wedding cake…and we’re all in the cake!”, Ritter joked.
Ritter’s brand of Americana is one of a troubadour on the road, sometimes lonely, sometimes haunting; no more evident than when he covered Roger Miller’s ‘Engine Engine #9’ from 1965, an obvious hero of his. Guitar and bass rejoined him for the rising ‘Bonfire’ with the rest of the band returning for the toe-tapping ‘Getting Ready to Get Down’.
The two-song encore started gently with 2010’s dreamy ‘Change of Time’ as a solo piece, then ended in an exclamation with the clap-along, foot-stomping to 2007’s ‘To the Dogs or Whoever’ and its rapid-fire lyrics over a booming bass drum beat.
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Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band |
Ritter and band are currently on a brief touring break, resuming in two weeks, but are also featured on this Saturday’s CBS Morning Show, which is worth tuning in for.
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Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band at Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis (27 Jan 2016) |
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