A Tiny Venue for Small Artists...and then, A Giant Stadium for U2

June 27, 2017

This weekend, Saturday night, I traveled down to Boston for a small indie folk band called Swear and Shake, whom I honestly had not heard too much from, other than a few songs on Spotify. I was really interested in seeing the opening act because it was Jillette Johnson. She's the kind of artist that should be way bigger than she actually is. She had the unfortunate fate of coming out around the same time as Anna Nalick and A Fine Frenzy, both female piano players.
In fact, after putting out an album in 2012, she sort of disappeared, had one "hit" song that never really allowed her to see more fame or mainstream attention, even though it's an incredible song (about domestic abuse, nonetheless, so yeah, not much of a popular subject, I guess). Then, a couple years ago, Johnson put out another record, independently. Now, she's been working on an album that's been a labor of love and she's hitting the road with the band Swear and Shake. Her set relied pretty much only on these new songs, which was a little disappointing because I really love her first album. I remember seeing her back in 2013, when she was the opener for Delta Rae!! (again) here in Portland, at Port City Music Hall. I fell in love with her voice back then, and this time around, her voice was strong and loud in the small room.

Swear and Shake are a great indie folk band from Nashville, TN (in fact, the band and Jillette Johnson are friends because of their location). They were excellent, as well. Three people (2 guys and a girl). They are touring to support their new album "The Sound of Letting Go" which I listened to before the show and liked, but live the band sounds amazing. I can see them gaining more attention and fans if they play festivals and such. Saturday night, they were playing a small venue (basically a coffee shop) at Berklee College of Music in Boston (939 Cafe), which is a perfect space for small bands to play.

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Sunday night, I got to cross off another band from my concert bucket list. U2. Last year it was Bruce Springsteen. This year, it's U2. When I heard they were touring in celebration of "The Joshua Tree" for is 30th anniversary, playing the album in its entirety, I knew I had to see them. This is one of those albums that just hit me as a kid and I kept rediscovering it through the years into adulthood. It has stuck with me and stands up against time, and just sounds absolutely incredible live, but then again, it's U2 and they know how to rock, just four dudes from Ireland who became a monster of a band.

"The Joshua Tree" really stands as the album that made them international superstars even though they had 4 albums prior (all of which are really decent and have their own strong songs). An album that opens with "Where the Streets Have No Name," that guitar, and continues with solid hits like "I Still Haven't Found..." and "With or Without You," you know is an absolutely amazing album. Truth be told, every time I hear "With or Without You" I cannot help but think of the "Friends" episode where Ross and Rachel are broken up and are getting back together. It's one of those perfect pop culture connections between visual and auditory connections, it helps elicit fond memories from my childhood and watching "Friends" in my living room, even though it's a sad moment in television history, it's such a romantic song. I've always wanted to hear it live and was so happy and on another planet, while standing among the massive crowd on the field at Gillette Stadium Sunday night. It was such an amazing night and I honestly cannot believe it's taken me this long to see U2, but I'm so happy I was able to experience this show.