Josh Ritter at The Sellersville Theater

My wife and I go to a lot of shows. We always have. Part of it is that we don't have any kids, part of it is that we live in a big city and we have access and part of it is just a love of music and being around people that feel the same way. The enthusiasm from the crowd is almost always there. When we see the old heads like Neil Young or Tom Petty, the fan enthusiasm is there. When we see the Fratellis or The Hold Steady, it's there. And while you could always count on the crowd, sometimes the artist lacks a certain spark,,, like they're on night 300 of a 300 night tour. And then there are nights when you see someone like Josh Ritter. This is the second time we've seen him and his band live and both times we've walked away with a warmer heart and an extra kick in our step. He brings a joy and energy to his performance that I really can't compare to any artist we've seen. Maybe I've seen the the joy with B.B. King and I've certainly seen the energy with the Boss, but there is a approachability and freshness to Josh and his music that is so contagious.

We've been looking for the right show to see at The Sellersville Theater for a while now. It's a bit of a drive from Philly, but worth the effort. I'm not familiar with the history of the Theater, but it's well preserved and with 21 rows of 14, it's very intimate. I called about the Josh Ritter tickets a couple weeks after they went on sale. The woman on the phone told me that the 'Member Tickets' that were still available would be released to the public at the end of the week. When I called back at the end of the week, we ended up with seats in the front row. We were happy to have them even though we felt almost uncomfortably close to the stage. The stage lights spilled onto us for most of the show and we had no table in front of us so we set our beers on the edge of the stage.

I am a photographer by trade and as I've mentioned in previous posts, I do my best with the point and shoot camera when I don't want to take the bulky good gear to a concert. Here is a link to the shots from the evening. While several are a little soft in focus, I think they capture the mood and spirit of the performance and the venue. I also took two video clips. The first highlights that energy and joy that I'm talking about. The second shows more the intimacy of the performer in a venue like this. At the end of the show, the band exited and Josh brought out his opener, Mark Ereli and they shuffled to the edge of the stage to perform unamplified. Kristen and I were quick to move our empty beer cups as they stood directly above us. Trying not to be too inappropriate, I took a video clip of them next to us. I've done a lot of these, but I'm particularly proud of this one since I just turned the camera on, set it on my lap and pointed it upward toward Josh and Mark. It's an unconventional perspective, but my aim was pretty good.

If you don't know the music, check it out if you can. We're big fans. Especially my wife, who would probably run off to Idaho and raise potatoes with Josh if he asked her. She just told me last night that she'd just become friends with Josh on Facebook, so who knows.