Jimmy Gnecco - Paradise Rock Club, Boston 5.27.10

Last night was my second Jimmy concert - and it was a hometown show for me. Out of the 9 times I've seen him, I have only seen him in Boston-ish 3 times. I've traveled for the rest. Not that it matters, because I don't mind traveling, and he's always worth it. Anyway. I digress. I left my house early last night - knowing I would hit traffic, and hit traffic I did. I arrived at the venue around 7:30 (doors at 8), met up with Lisa for a drink at the bar, and killed time before the doors opened. Funny enough, I had ordered a drink and then gone to the ladies room, and promptly almost ran into Jimmy as he was coming out of the hallway where the bathrooms were. He didn't see me, and was kind of engrossed in something he was doing, so I didn't want to interrupt.

Anyway - we got right up front (I was pretty much sitting ON the stage) and Brian Wright opened the show. The sound was much better in Boston then in Philadelphia, and while I am not a huge country-folkish fan, Brian was really quite good. I enjoyed his music a lot, and he was funny too, interacting with the crowd. He played for a good 40 minutes or so, and the last song he totally jammed out with Marco and Eric from Greg Laswell's band. It also bears mentioning that Brian is Greg's band as well, but he's done some solo stuff on his own. I don't think I'd ever buy his album, but I definitely enjoyed it for what it was. He wrapped up around 9:40 or so, and we had about a 15 minute break while Brian broke down, and they set up for Jimmy.

Jimmy took the stage about 10, and opened with Here is the Light. That song has so much energy and I really love when he plays it acoustic - he just wails on the guitar and its awesome to watch. The entire set list was as follows: Here Is the Light •
Light On the Grave • Mystery • The Bells • Bring You Home • Gravity •  Darling • Ran Away To Tell The World • The Heart

Static was in Boston with Jimmy as well, and he came up and played on The Bells and Bring You Home, as well as Ran Away To Tell The World and The Heart. The Bells is just rocking - its a total jam and its really fun to see Jimmy just wail on the guitar. When I talked to Static after, he said that is their new jam - and you can tell how in tune they are with each other. Jimmy talked about how he wrote Bring You Home for his mom, and the really hard decision he had to make when she was sick - it was totally heartbreaking. Mystery I've always loved, and it was such a trip to hear Gravity live. I've never heard it before live, and to be able to be there when he sings it - and to be able to finally have a studio copy of it will be amazing. After Gravity, Jimmy was making comments about how he had to record and release that song because others have released bad versions of it and without naming names, went onto a little rant. We all caught his drift with the rant and it was entertaining (He was absolutely talking about John Mayer).

Darling was as heartbreaking and haunting as it always is - however, it did not make me cry this time - did give me severe chills (and it was not cold in the room, at all!) I was beyond thrilled that he played Ran Away to Tell The World because its one of my favorites off of Mercy. Erin had said to me when I first got the album that it would plant itself into my brain and not go away. She was right. As much as I love hearing it full band, I love hearing it acoustic too. There's just something about the cleanness of just Jimmy and Static - with just their guitars and Jimmy's voice soaring. They ended with The Heart, and while I wasn't wild about it the first couple of times I heard it, I really really love it now. That song rocks, hardcore and we got a little bit of a taste as to what it'll sound like full band - Eric and Marco from Greg's band came up to play with Jimmy and Static on it - and it was totally kickass. The perfect song to end the set with. His set ran around 45-50 minutes, which was much longer then he played in Philadelphia, but still not as long as I'd like him to play. However, some Jimmy is better then no Jimmy - and it was an amazing time as it was. After his set, I went to the merch table to meet up with some friends with the intentions of getting a shirt. I ended up talking to people too long, and then Static, April, and Jimmy came out of the hallway behind the merch table.

They were leaving to drive back to NJ, but of course Jimmy stopped to talk to the group of us who were there. I talked to Jimmy for a few minutes after, and he signed my vinyl. He did confirm that he'd be coming back in August, which made me happy. I did thank him for playing Gravity, and told him I was excited for it to be on the album, as the only version I did have of it was a crappy version with people talking over it. He asked me if it was an acoustic version and I told him yes, it was from one of the shows a couple of years ago. After we took a picture, I thanked him and drifted away to talk to Static. He and I had a good chat for awhile, and as we were all walking out together, I ran into Michelle and Jess as well. We stood outside talking while the guys loaded up and finally said goodnight. All in all, it was an amazing night - full of love, laughter, good music, and good friends. I'm so excited for this album to drop July 20, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be road tripping to NJ in June for his solo show on the 21st. And I can't wait.

All photos are here: Jimmy Gnecco Paradise Boston