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The
Someday Tour
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(Eliot
Morris, Griffin House, Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz) |
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Schuba's,
Chicago, IL
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April
26, 2004
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When I found out that Eliot Morris was coming to Chicago, I
must admit that I was quite giddy. I
first heard of Morris after he opened for Glen Phillips in 2003, and then
supported Matt Nathanson earlier this year.
I was immediately a fan. Having
experienced his live show before, I knew I would enjoy Morris's performance. However, not being familiar with the other
artists on the bill (Griffin House, Dave Barnes, and Matt Wertz), I wasn't
certain what to expect from the Someday Tour.
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Well, what I got was a lot of fun. Schuba's was packed for this all ages show, not surprising given
the popularity Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes in Chicago. The show began with Eliot Morris. He started out mellow, opening with 'Infancy of Us,' a trademark
song of his dealing with relationships.
While a lot of the audience did not know his music at the beginning
of the song, most of them were hooked by the end of it. He then proceeded to play two more songs
solo, including 'No One Has to Know,' one of my favorites.
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Morris was then joined on stage by Matt Wertz, who also
played three of his songs. He definitely
was more rockin' than Morris and provided a new energy to the laid-back songs
Morris played. Having played Chicago
many times before, he had a strong fan-base at the show were excited to see him
there, singing along to all three of his songs, including 'The Day Forever
Died.'
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Next on stage was Dave Barnes, whose fans were more than
willing to help him sing, especially during 'CrazyBoutYa,' his audience
participation song. It was immediately
apparent that Barnes and Wertz had played together many times before. Not only did they play off of one another
musically, the duo also provided the comedy relief for the evening as well,
joking with one another and sometimes struggling to keep a straight face during
the quieter songs. Musically, however,
I was somewhat disappointed with both Wertz and Barnes. While I generally really dig male
singer/songwriters, I wasn't really into them. I
thought their lyrics were predictable
and the music was somewhat uninteresting.
However, given the crowd reaction, I was definitely in the minority in
that opinion.
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The last person up, Griffin House, was the biggest surprise
for me. Not only did he look nothing
like what I was expecting (the picture I had seen of him was obviously a few
years old), but his voice blew me
away. He opened his set with the
entertaining story of 'The Way I Was Made,' an interesting account of how he
came to be. He had no problem getting
the audience to sing along to this fun ditty.
He then continued to wow us with more thoughtful lyrics and beautiful
acoustic guitar, particularly during the heart-felt 'Tell Me a Lie.'
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At the conclusion of House's set, the guys then began to
play in-a-round, with each performer playing one song while the others backed
him on guitars and vocals. The
highlights included Morris's 'Anyway,' Wertz's 'Marianne,' House's
'Volkswagon,' and a cover of Bob Marley's 'No Woman, No Cry.' The
evening concluded with the
guys playing a rendition of Marc Cohn's 'Walking in Memphis,' quite appropriate
since all the performers have lived in Tennessee at some point. After being cheered back to the stage for
an encore, the guys sang Tom Petty's 'Free Falling' and a new song from Morris,
'Different to Me.'
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In the end, I left the Someday Tour with a smile on my
face. I had a 'new find' in Griffin
House and got to see Eliot Morris, all at the same show. Morris and House are the type of musicians I
could see and listen to over and over again.
With amazing voices and supremely crafted songs, there is hope for the
next generation of male singer/songwriters after all.
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