Concert Review: Bobby Long Live @ Paradiso

As a treat to myself for all my hard word and stress related issues I decided to buy myself tickets to see another concert. The last one I saw was over a month ago, so it was about time again! I went to see Bobby Long. Bobby who? You may ask. Well, this young man plays blues-y indie folk songs and needs nothing but a guitar and his amazing voice to keep you entertained and amazed.

To be quite frank I didn’t know much of his music before going to his show. I knew Dead and Done from one of the indie playlists and was listening to it obsessively as the opening line, to me, is one of the best lines ever in music. It goes: Heaven is a place where people die pretty. The other song I knew was Penance Fire Blues which I found as a free download on Spinner.com’s MP3 of the Day page earlier this year. That triggered me to look him up on youtube and thought he had an amazing voice and so I decided to go see for myself. He was also responsible for writing Let me Sign as sung by Robert Pattinson on the Twilight Soundtrack which is how he ended up on my radar to begin with.

I went to the show hoping he’d at least play Dead and Done and Penance Fire Blues not expecting or hoping for much more, but OMG! Was he amazing or was he amazing?! I love his voice on record but live the rawness and passion comes through even more. I do admit that it has to be your cup of tea but I really like this kind of sound. It’s raw. It’s passionate. It’s real. It’s music the way music should sound. Not only is he a great singer, but he is a skilled guitar player as well. The performance was just him and his acoustic guitar (and the occasional mouth organ) but, trust me, that was all he needed to keep you captivated and interested.

The hair was a thing… He didn’t flip it out of his face until he showed up at the merchandise stand!

He also has a new EP out and played pretty much all the songs from that (which I bought and got signed after the show),some songs from his first album A Winter Tale which came out earlier this year and some stuff that is so new it hasn’t been recorded yet. The show had a nice build up starting with She Wears Green from his new EP The Backing Singer (which is sold exclusively at shows) followed by The River is Long, from said EP. Then it was time for some earlier work: The Bounty of Mary Jane and In the Frost. One of my favorites was a song called These Boats which is on his EP. The last two songs of the night were Penance Fire Blues and Dead and Done. Especially Penance Fire Blues was amazing. I love that song to begin with and it was a great ending of a great show, with Dead and Done as a nice sort of encore.

Yes, Bobby Long impressed me very much with his overall skill and obvious passion for music. If he comes back I’ll definitely be going to see his show again and you should too! Bobby Long is currently on tour in Europe, so maybe you still have a chance to see him. You can find tour dates and related info on his official website.

I also took some video so you can see for yourselves!

Bobby Long – The River is Long:

Bobby Long – In the Frost:

Bobby Long – These Boats:

Bobby Long – Penance Fire Blues:

Bobby Long – Dead and Done: