Ben Howard- Union Transfer, Philadelphia 9/21/12

I’m not a professional writer, and I don’t pretend to be one. As such, I try not to write anything negative about my musical experiences, which accounts for the giant hole in 2012’s timeline.  For example, out of an entire Folk Music Festival, City & Colour was the only experience I thoroughly enjoyed.  I don’t know much about Dallas Green except that I really like a few of his songs and that, when he played live in Newport, I was utterly exhausted and completely relieved to hear a singer that wasn’t whining about politics or global warming.

Keeping that in mind, I think I could write all day about the Ben Howard show I experienced this weekend.  Having only heard a few seconds of a live Ben Howard recording I caught on BBC Radio weeks ago, I purchased tickets and crossed my fingers.  It was a Friday night at my favorite venue in Philadelphia, so, how bad could it be? 

Gill Landry, of Old Crow Medicine Show, opened the evening.  From what I could tell, he is not the lead singer of OCMS, but just the bass of his speaking voice made your chest vibrate.  Of course, the boyfriend was in heaven, he loves folk-y music, and my sneaking suspicion is that the driving force for him to first listen to OCMS was that the name of the band includes a reference to his “favorite $6-a-bottle bourbon.”  I was surprised too.  Apparently there are multiple options for 6-dollar bourbon available in your neighborhood liquor store.  Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed him.

I could have done without the artificial smoke filling the staging area before Ben Howard took his place on stage.  Once he started playing, I understood the fake smoke.  The percussion filled the room before Ben’s voice broke through…  And what a voice!  None of his studio albums prepare you for the raw talent Ben Howard exhibited on Union Transfer’s stage that night.  Let’s just combine the percussion experience of Frightened Rabbit and a voice that may have actually blown Ray LaMontagne out of the water. 

The crowd was hushed during every song, and, from what I could tell, just as blown away as I was.  Based on the incredibly messy notes I took during the show, this is the portion of the set list I can decipher: 

Depth Over Distance

Only Love

Old Pine

Esmeralda

It’s Everything

Black Flies

Keep Your Head Up

Fear

Apparently the set list was slightly modified shortly before the start of the show due to a broken amplifier.  All in all, great show, really, really great show.  Sometimes brevity is your best option, instead of dissecting and harping on every detail of a show…

As of the end of September, this ranks as my favorite show of 2012.  I sincerely doubt anyone will even come close to rivaling the live performance of Ben Howard.