On Wednesday morning I was cleaning our apartment and listening to one of my favorite records from last year, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. When I was finished I thought to myself, I wonder if Josh Ritter is coming to town anytime soon? I went online and found out that not only was he in town but he was also playing that night! To make the situation better he was playing at the zoo which is two blocks from our new place. Unfortunately tickets were sold out. I decided to walk down to the zoo and see if anyone was selling tickets. I scoured the grounds but could not find any scalpers. Instead I took a stroll through the zoo. As I got closer to the back of the stage I found that I could hear the concert perfectly, I just couldn't see. I sat down on a bench right next to the sloth bear and listened to Josh Ritter start is set. During his third song a couple approached me and asked me if I wanted a ticket to the concert. They offered it for free but I paid them for it because I was so excited. I walked in and (being alone) I was able to work my way to the front of the stage and have a seat on the lawn. The weather was great, my seat was great, and of course the music was perfect. After the show I walked around back stage and saw him there talking with some fans. I went over and joined them and talked to him for about 15 min. I have met my fair share of musicians in my day and most of the time I like them less after talking with them but it was not the case with Josh Ritter. He seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say and very grateful that anyone is interested in his music. After our visit I found a seat and enjoyed the rest of Andrew Bird's set and then walked home. I was so happy that things worked out the way that it did and that I got the instant gratification of wanting to go to a show and then going that night.
For those of you that don't know about Zoo Tunes you should check it out. Kids under twelve get in free with a paying adult and there is free parking, and the thing gets over by 8:30PM so you can even go on a work/school night and not regret it the next day. Check out this link for more information about ZooTunes.
If anyone is curious about what he sounds like here is a video from David Letterman last year.
3 comments:
OHHH Benjer! Good for you. Did you already own the concert T-shirt with his name, or did you buy it there so he would agree to take a picture with you?
He's so awesome.
seriously! How do you pull this stuff off? you're kind of my hero.
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