Better Than Ezra - Paradise Rock Club 12.9.10

I won tickets to see Better Than Ezra play at Paradise when they were in town a couple of weeks ago, and while I was hesitant to go since it was a last minute thing - I couldn't find anyone who would go with me, and I didn't know anyone there - I'm glad I did. I was also interested to see the renovated Paradise. I had been there earlier in the year to see a different show and hadn't been back since they'd reopened. I like Paradise a lot - even though its 850 capacity, it still feels really intimate - plus its in a great location in Boston and very easy to get to. Its easily one of my favorite music venues. Doors for the show were at 8, as the show was at 9, so I arrived about 20 minutes after doors opened, picked up my tickets and headed in. There was a good crowd of people already in front of the stage and I started out third 'row' for the opener.

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