Well, it has been exactly one week since the chaos erupted in Watertown. I'd be lying to you if I said it was anything other than a strange and difficult week.
Thankfully, tonight I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Rector in concert at The Sinclair in Harvard Square. It was the first time I've felt joy in almost two weeks. It was great to smile so wide I thought my face might break.
Let me back it up a little.
I first heard Ben Rector play at the Royale in the Theater District in March 2011 when he opened for Matt Wertz (read all about that and watch the videos here). I bought his album and have been listening to it ever since.
When I found out he was returning to Boston, I raced to get a ticket. I was also excited that he was playing at a brand new venue.
Before tonight's show we had dinner at The Sinclair Kitchen (more in that in a future post) and then we got in line around 8:15pm.
The opening act for evening was called Alpha Rev. I wasn't really feeling them until they closed their set with a cover of Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" which they dedicated to the resilient people of Boston. Their rendition was so beautiful and haunting that they had the entire room in tears.
When Ben took the stage the crowd roared with screams and applause. That noise got exponentially louder when he opened the show with "Benny and the Jets." Who doesn't love that song?
Next he sang one of my favorites called "She Is." The song is incredibly appropriate as the opening lyric is, "She hails from Boston, she hates the sound that goodbyes make." Enjoy:
Afte that, Ben moved onto another of my favorites, "When a Heart Breaks." He also shared a new song he wrote called "I Like You." He did a little mash up of that new tune with a Bob Marley song which was very cool.
At every show Ben likes to ask the audience for topic suggestions (like an improv show) and then incorporate those words or phrases into his song "Loving You is Easy." Tonight he decided to take the suggestion of "bow ties." Listen to how he worked that into the lyrics:
Several more songs followed and Ben closed with his most high energy song, "Let the Good Times Roll."
For his encore, he played a cover of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out" and then brought the house down with a fan favorite, "White Dress." Admittedly, I was singing along to every single word. There may have also been some dancing.
A big "thank you" to Ben and his band for bringing the smile back to my face. I couldn't have asked for a better way to head into the weekend.
