ilona pamplona catches Brett Dennen live at Webster Hall in New York …
I was dreading all of last week. The weather forecasters predicted nothing but clouds and thunderstorms, and by Tuesday I had enough of the rain and the unseasonably cooler temperatures. The idea of dragging myself through rain to go see a concert was not appealing whatsoever. My luck would have it, that Brett Dennen, with his red hair and California flair, seemed to have brought us a little of the West Coast climate to the big apple while promoting his new album Loverboy at Webster Hall in New York.
Sporting a svelte new look and backed by a five-piece band (including drums AND percussion!), he started off strong with “Surprise Surprise” and “Make You Fall In Love With Me.” Shaking his hips from song to song, I was surprised the jolie-laide Dennen had all the girls in the crowd swooning. Caribbean/reggae-infused “Can’t Stop Thinking” had me itching to run and book a vacation to somewhere with crystal blue waters … and his music and my iPod, of course! While I wasn’t a huge fan of the funky “Must Be Losing My Mind,” “Dancing At A Funeral” and “Sydney” were real crowd-pleasers. Brett reserved the latter part of his set to show off his folkier singer-songwriter abilities, but it was his closing song, “Blessed,” that converted anyone who hadn’t heard of him before.
I welcome the sun
The clouds and rain
The wind that sweeps the sky clean
And lets the sun shine again
Blessed is this life, oh
And I’m gonna celebrate being alive
As he left us with these words, the audience descended the dark marble steps of the venue, with a small group continuing sing its praise. While I didn’t join them, I couldn’t help but smile and feel so very blessed to have had the chance to catch the set.
Set List
Surprise Surprise
Make You Fall In Love
San Francisco
Can’t Stop Thinking
Make You Crazy
Must Be Losing My Mind
Comeback Kid
Dancing At A funeral
Sydney
Little Cosmic Girl
She’s Mine
Darlin
Crazy
———————–
Aint No Reason (solo)
Closer To You
Queen
Blessed
