Concert Junkies Anonymous: Bobby Long at WAMC's The Linda

If you've never heard of Bobby Long (and you enjoy a fantastic, British, singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar), go check out some of his stuff on YouTube or last.fm

There, now that you've done that (and one of the YouTube results was a video from the concert I'm going to talk about - so you've even gotten to see almost exactly what I saw) let's get on with things.

When I saw Bobby - who now makes his home in NYC, but is originally from outside of Manchester, England - was going to be playing upstate in Albany, I knew I had to be there. I don't get the chance to travel to the city THAT much, so the couple hour drive to Albany was much easier to make happen on a rainy Friday evening in February. Not to mention that it was only $17 for a ticket, rather than frequently higher NYC show prices.

I first discovered Bobby's music a couple of years ago and this was my first easy opportunity to see him live and in person - my friend Serenity gladly accompanied me, as she is also a fan, but had seen him a few times in NYC in the past.

Somewhat unsure of the venue or what kind of seating/viewing situation we'd be in, I chose to consult with a friend, originally from Albany, who told me he was pretty sure that the venue was an old bank and would be small - maybe 60 seats or so - and intimate.

He wasn't wrong. Behind the stage (several 2 or so foot high risers placed toegther) was the bank's original steel gate which used to lock in the Safe Deposit box room. Much of the inside remained "bank-ish" but the main floor was cleared of cubicles and teller windows and now featured rows of chairs for the general admission show. Once inside, we could choose whatever seats we wanted...and we happened to spy a couple of empty seats in the front row - so of course, we took those.

We got situated and got our cameras ready as we wanted to get some good memories from the show. The opener, Tor and the Fjords (although it was just one guy, so I'm not sure who "the Fjords" were...) performed several songs in that folk-y, acoustic, singer-songwriter vein. He was quite good and i enjoyed the stories he told to go along with the songs. It was also nice that he didn't take himself too seriously. He was in the midst of starting one song, for example, when he felt that his guitar wasn't tuned quite right, so he stopped, fixed it, remembered that it actually HAD been right, and went back and fixed it again before continuing. He poked fun at himself the whole time, making it a fun and lighthearted (rather than an "oh crap, I'm on stage and just messed up, and now I'm so nervous I don't know what to do) moment. It really showed his comfort with performing, even if his hands did look a little shaky up on the stage. I hadn't heard of this artist before that night, but I thoroughly enjoyed his set.

Bobby appeared next in rolled up jeans, a white tee, maroon cardigan and a black beanie. He was also rockin' a fairly scruffy beard, which oddly worked on him. He arrived on stage with a water bottle, a beer (Magic Hat #9 if I remember correctly...) and his guitar. Serenity leaned over to me when she saw the beer and said - he's particularly chatty and funny when he's drinking...so here we go! I laughed and the show started. He played many of his more well known and popular songs among fans, telling stories - that may or may not have been true about where the songs came from. The story about his father asking him to write a song about a dead prostitute, was one I found particularly funny.

The acoustic set was fantastic and when he decided to perform one song sans microphone at all and he unplugged his guitar and just played even more simply it was beautiful. Many selections were from Wishbone - his more recent album from February of 2013, but there were selections from A Winter's Tale and other releases as well.

Throughout the show, Bobby was talkative yet shy - something I wasn't sure someone could accomplish so fluidly. His self-deprecating humor had the crowd of about 60 laughing along with him, while also watching him keep his gaze lowered throughout most of the show. Every song was ended with "Thank you very much, Ladies and Gentlemen." He was sweet and charming and had the attention of every single person in the venue.

One of the things I truly enjoy about small, intimate venues like this - with perhaps lesser-known artists, is the accessibility. Bobby informed the crowd that he had some CD's and "children's t-shirts..." available for purchase after the show and that he'd be happy to sign things and meet people. We got into line fairly quickly - maybe 5-6 people back - and had to wait quite a while as Bobby took time with each person and group to really chat with them, ask them questions, answer theirs, and personally sign items. When we got up there, I purchased 2 older albums - Summer Dangerous Tour 2009 and Dirty Pond Songs - that I somehow didn't have and chatted with him for a few minutes. He signed both CD's TO my name and message - one reading Best Wishes and one reading Thanks for me and then was kind enough to also pose for a picture with me. You'll have to excuse the fact that I look like hell...but it was a great experience even if I look terrible in this picture.

(Photo: Courtesy of Serenity K.)

The show was fantastic, we got some amazing pictures of his performance, and a great story to tell about meeting him afterwards. He was super sweet to everyone and really performed his heart out. Constantly signing with so much passion that his eyes were often closed and his face strained with the emotions of the songs. I twas incredible to get to be so close and to finally get to see this artist up close and personal - and live - after being a fan for a long time.