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| Josh Ritter in Knoxville, Tennessee at "Sundown in the City." On the Josh Ritter Fansite. Photos and review by Doug Rice. Headliners: the amazing band "My Morning Jacket." Mp3's. Clip of "Wolves" from new album. My Morning Jacket link and mp3s. On Doug Rice's Josh Ritter Fansite. Visit www.joshritter.com |
| Date: Thursday June 9, 2005 Venue: "Sundown in the City," Market Square in Knoxville, TN The Big Deal: We were really looking forward to this one: Josh and the band would be opening for an amazing band that we're all big fans of, "My Morning Jacket," in a city they've never played. And it would be on an outdoor stage, set up right in Knoxville's Market Square - free admission for all. We're not talking hundreds here, but thousands. This was the perfect warm-up for the next day, when Josh and the band would play, arguably, their most important concert to date, Bonnaroo. |
| Review (Day): This was a day where we actually had some time to hang out and explore. We had arrived in Knoxville the night before, and decided to head into town (instead of going directly to the hotel) for a drink and some food. The restaurant we aimed for was no longer serving food for the night, so we found a place nearby, with outdoor patio tables, right across the street. We were in the heart of Knoxville's "Old City," and we were already eyeing some nearby antique and vintage shops we would hit the next day. The weather was warm - but pleasant - and after a couple drinks and some food and breathing in some Knoxville flavor, we headed over ot the hotel to regroup for a couple big days that lay ahead. |
| Drawn in by concert posters in the window, we also stop into a place called "Yeehaw Industries" on Gay Street, a letterpress and design company. The work they do here is top-notch and underrated. Using letter blocks from the turn of the century, they create mainly event posters the old-fashioned way: with integrity, talent, and artistry. No computers here. We are given a behind-the-scenes tour of the building, including the huge workspace upstairs. The staff is ridiculously friendly, and we're all blown away by their craft. Pay them a visit, in person or online. |
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| [All photos by Doug Rice] |
| > Josh Ritter Fansite > Features > June 2005 Shows > Knoxville |
| Photos |
| June 2005 Entry > Introduction > Brooklyn > Philadelphia > Boston > New York > Pittsburgh > Knoxville > Bonnaroo |
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| On Thursday, the day of the show, we drove back into the "Old City" section. We met up with a couple friends Josh had in Knoxville and they showed us around a bit, leading us to "Tomato Head" in Market Square for some eats. The weather was hot - and getting hotter. While Josh catches up with friends from Knoxville, Zack, Sam, Dave and I decide to make our way to the many antique/vintage shops. We're looking for anything cool, especially threads. We find it. At one place, "Legacy," I personally hit the jackpot. Unlike the other guys, I live in a town by the beach where vintage shops are scarce and the surf shops try to duplicate the vintage look (and charge an arm and leg for it). We all leave with something, but I walk out of Legacy with nine shirts, most of them costing about $10. At another place down the street, Sam would find a pair of shoes that I, persoanlly, couldn't pull off, but Sam Kassirer could - and does. I wish the photo showed how truly...."sparkly" they are. They rock. |
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| The big, makeshift stage, nestled right in the middle of Knoxville's Market Square. |
| Already feeling the power of the shoes, Sam gets in the spirit during soundcheck. |
| Review (Show): Knoxville has a great thing going with "Sundown in the City." Imagine if your town had a free concert, every Thursday during the Summer, outside in the town square, with plenty of food and beers to be found. That's Sundown. Thousands come, and thousands have a good time. |
| Rain threatens - and even briefly comes down in the hours leading up to showtime - but clears up before Josh and the band take the stage. The concert organizers have a merchandise tent that does the selling for us, so after I organize and set up the Josh shirts and cd's with them, I'm luckily able to leave it to them while I help the band get ready for the show. And fortunately, it also frees me up during the show to not only take a bunch of photos, but to truly enjoy the set. And it's an amazing set with a unique energy... |
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| SETLIST: 1. Idaho 2. The Bad Actress 3. Snow is Gone 4. Roll On 5. Me and Jiggs 6. Man Burning 7. You Don't Make it Easy, Babe 8. Harrisburg 9. The Other Side 10. Wolves 11. Golden Age of Radio 12. Kathleen |
| HEAR "WOLVES" |
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| A rough "audience recording" attempted by your's truly was overall spoiled, unfortunately, by some pockets of audience noise near the microphone and soundboard. So I will not be offering up full mp3's of this show. However, what I AM offering up is a clip of the song "Wolves" from this show. Despite the quality, it's amazing how the song's power, aggressiveness, and energy cuts through it all. For those of you who have not yet heard my new favorite Josh Ritter song, here's just a taste... |
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| The show is a big success that we're all thrilled with. And we're so psyched about "My Morning Jacket," that we delay our drive to Bonnaroo by a couple hours so that we can stay for their entire set. And we're glad we did (see bottom of page for more about them). |
| I'll just let pics of Josh's set do the rest of the talking. Josh's high-five at the bottom says it all... |
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| If you're not onboard with this band yet, go immediately to their website for more: |
| To HEAR My Morning Jacket quickly, without going anywhere, enjoy these mp3's from their website. There are tons of great photos there, along with more mp3's. Get onboard. |
| "Lowdown" |
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