Finally, Denver

By JoCo January 17, 2009

It’s taken a long time for me to get here and now I wish it had happened sooner – had a very pleasant 36 hours here and a great show last night. A lot of newcomers in the crowd, I could tell because they laughed at the sad parts and looked confused during the first verse of First of May.

This was the first gig in a couple of months, so I was a bit rusty. Also I have that perpetual parental head cold so my voice started out a little ragged. But I took requests during the day on Twitter, and that gave me a set list with some challenging choices, kept it interesting for me. I’ve fallen into a rut lately with set lists, so I’m trying to shake it up and bring in some newer stuff, maybe some of the Thing a Week songs that haven’t been done live yet.

Also I met Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office) when he and I were both guests on the channel 7 morning news. After I did Code Monkey (on this NEWS SHOW) he claimed during his interview to have written a song called Pin Number Orangutan, which doesn’t even make any sense, but is still funny.

And now I’m headed to SF for tonight. Still tickets for Sunday I think, but Saturday is sold out.

Note: I wrote this on my phone and forgot to post it until right now…

Comments

Jonathan Bowman says

Thank you so much for making a stop in Denver. I convinced my reluctant wife to come with me and now she can't stop listening to your stuff. If you decide to come back, we'll see what we can do about that oxygen "problem".

Dave Michaels says

It was a pleasure having you here! Yes, there were some newbies in the crowd, particularly the guy 3 seats to my right who was falling out of his chair at least every other song. Though a seasoned listener, I myself wasn't entirely immune to fits of giggles -- your improv rendition of Mr. Fancypants with the ZenDrum had me howling. I'd pay/donate good money for a copy of that track!

I brought my friend John, who had heard some of your stuff before at my house, but clearly wasn't paying as much attention as he did at the show. Your show sold him, and he's now spreading the love down in Colo Spugs, getting Skullcrusher Mountain stuck in people's heads. Woot!

Looking forward to your next Denver visit! The altitude didn't seem to affect the quality of your show much at all, from my vantage -- if you were compensating, it was hard to tell.

Marcy says

Hey Dave--tell your friend he can get the track on Rock Band 2 and really impress his friends!!!!!!!! :)

Jim says

Jonathan, thanks so much for coming to Denver. My wife and I had a blast, and we too loved the Zen Drum freestyling with Mr. Fancypants as others have mentioned.

The interaction with Paul & Storm was great too. We will definitely try to make any shows you do in the area in the future.

I have Skullcrusher Mountain and Still Alive for Rock Band, and it was pure joy singing along with you and 250 other nerds for those and other favorites like Code Monkey and First of May.

Greg says

Jonathan-
Great show. I've got your guitar pick here, which will hold an honored place next to my keyboard until my cats decide to knock it on the floor and it gets lost.

My wife got an intro to your music, and we both learned that Paul and Storm are pretty funny too.

Liz C says

Thanks for a fun show--come back soon. The altitude thing gets better after a few days, so plan for 3-4 shows in Colorado and you should be fine.

I totally understand the joke that Craig Robinson was making. For those of us who are less techy when we hear "code" we think "password" (like PIN number), not programming code.

Steve says

The Denver show was great. My wife and I took some short videos, which include the Zendrum breakdown of "Mr. Fancypants," the instructions to the audience for "RE: your brains," and just a fragment from the start of the Billy Bragg cover (one of my favorite Bragg songs).

http://www.youtube.com/user/bevedog

Shanon says

Dave Michaels, I think I must have been sitting four seats to your right. We had to share a table with someone fitting that description, and I thought I was going to commit some sort of zendrum bludgeoning crime after a few songs (It's a song about a dead dog. It's not fucking funny!)

Otherwise - yes, wonderful show. Please come back to Colorado soon.

I LUV CALI says

Here is a full video of Saturday Boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENl6mbyef9c

(you can rip the audio off of the youtube video by using the mediaconverter.org site--super easy and free)

Imbrium says

It was fantastic to see you Friday night...I bought tickets for my husband for his birthday, and he declared the show the Best Birthday Present Ever. We've both been fans for quite a while, and we STILL laughed so hard that we hurt the next day.

Thanks for coming to Denver, and we hope you come back soon.

(Sorry about the oxygen thing. You do get used to it after a while.)

bookmunkie says

Jonathan, thanks for making it to Denver. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to get in because I didn't buy tickets as early as I should have, but things panned out. The audience had a totally different vibe from the PAX crowd, which was cool. I was really excited to hear Mr. Fancypants with the Zendrum again, and I'm glad my girlfriend got to hear your "Birdhouse in Your Soul" cover. Speaking of my girlfriend, she's really excited that I'll be having your babies. Don't worry; science will catch up.

Jonathan H. says

Jonathan,

Thanks for the great show. My wife and I will be eagerly awaiting your next appearance in Denver! Your show happened to coincide with my wife's birthday, and the concert made it a great one. ("Best. Birthday. Evar!" my wife said.)

We were also introduced to Paul and Storm, which was great, as well.

Thanks again, and we'll see you next time you're in town!

Jonathan

M says

I was one of the first-timers in the crowd and I have to say you do an awesome show! I'm not much of a concert go-er (Social Anxiety - haha) but we had a blast. Come back soon!!

Dave Michaels says

Marcy -- Oh, he knows. He and I jammed out to it on our RB2 PS3 setup a few weeks before the show at my annual Solstice Party. I got to sing mediocreishly to it, and embarrass myself in front of many guests, woot!

Steve & I LUV CALI -- thanks so much for the youtubeness, you rock!

Jonathan -- as (full of) awesome as youtube is, it still would rock to get a clean cut of that track. I'll donate as many monkeys and bananas to the cause as it takes. :)

Ron says

Thanks Jonathan for finally coming to Denver. Get your ass back here soon. I was totally impressed that you included I Feel Fantastic in your set, considering that your a flatlander with no lung capacity.

Thanks also to all the folks who posted their videos of the show - a nice reminder of a fantastic night.

And yeah Shanon, I can't believe some folks laughed at Space Doggity...

Ron says

Thanks Jonathan for finally coming to Denver. Get your ass back here soon. I was totally impressed that you included I Feel Fantastic in your set, considering that you're a flatlander with no lung capacity.

Thanks also to all the folks who posted their videos of the show - a nice reminder of a fantastic night.

And yeah Shanon, I can't believe some folks laughed at Space Doggity...

Ron says

Also can't believe I can't spell...

slackerrunt says

great seeing you in denver next time you should do a colorado springs show so I can see you twice and only have to leave town once ;-) also shoot me a tweet some time on twitter.