Vandaveer joins Ben Sollee for a special number (cell phone pic)
You’ve never heard of Vandaveer or Ben Sollee?!
Well, I hadn’t either until my roommates invited me to their concert. You have to check them out.
Roomies Rachel and Susie (cell phone pic). Thanks for inviting me!
Vandaveer is my roommate Susie’s favorite band right now. They’re a folksy duo lead by a songwriter from Kentucky. Their set included several ballads, one of a ghost and one of a murdered girl. But not all their songs were so dark.
Ben Sollee is also from Kentucky. My roommate Rachel loves him for his signature instrument, the cello. He was classically trained but now plays a genre-bending mix of rock, folk. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was standing in front of Paul Simon. As if the cello and Simoneque sound weren’t wonderful enough, many of his songs had great meaning behind them. He’s definitely now one of my favorite artists.
I haven’t been to many concerts, and I found the experience of live music to be simply amazing. Our early arrival at the small venue meant we were only a few feet away from the musicians. (Side note: The Red Palace on H-street is a bar that Robert Ripley would appreciate for its mummies and oddities. I don’t know how he would feel about the cat Al that walks up and down the bar to his cardboard box.)
Before a song, the artists would talk about it, why the wrote it, what it means to them. That’s something you don’t really get from a CD or MP3 recording and I really enjoyed that personal sharing.
Watching Ben and his percussionist Jordan Ellis play together was like watching a jam session or a playoff as the musicians went back and forth, feeding off of each other’s energy. That passion and fun get lost in the translation of music to recording too sometimes.
Ben Sollee signs Rachel's ticket (cell phone pic)
After the concert, Rachel got her ticket signed by the performers. After she got Ben’s autograph, he stepped up to Susie and I, “Hello, friends.” While Susie was a bit starstruck, I was at a loss for words. What do you say to a musician you didn’t know but heard for the first time right there from the front row? I didn’t want to look ignorant. We settled on “Your music is so inspirational.”
Vingtaine 