Outdated Concert Review: Pete Yorn at Joe's Pub 6/18/2009

An 11:30pm show is a tough sell all around. Especially on Thursday night with aspirations to work on Friday. Still, I am a pretty big fan of Pete Yorn. I have seen two of his shows and have a pretty strong opinion of his albums and what worked and what did not. So I went out into the rain solo to check out what turned out to be a great show. I was also curious to see exactly who else would brave the weather and timing to go see a moderately successful singer/songwriter who has never had a great hit


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Before going to Joe's Pub I went to the Pinche Taqueria on Lafayette because I had not yet eaten dinner. While munching on some el pastor, I thought about the song "Burrito" and the similarities between Pete and I. We are undercover NJ natives with a west coast flavor on top, much like the lime I was applying to tortilla. I started humming "Life on a Chain" for no reason in particular.

The line outside of Joe's Pub was eclectic to say the least. There were several middle aged couples in line. One could only assume that they were Montville, NJ natives out to support their triumphant native son - several without tickets hoping to get in. Maybe not though, maybe they picked "For Us" as their song for their vow renewal ceremony last summer in Sea Girt because their daughter liked it and played too much in the car one summer and mom found herself humming along.

There were two 40 odd year old women, one far more fit than the other. I was convinced that the more fit had endured a bad break up in mid 2003 and found solace in "Come Back Home". Her friend is a happy mother of 3 who leaves her husband with the kids once a month to relive her youth with her developmentally arrested friend. They both have inappropriate crushes on Pete.

Beside me were two twenty something blondes, who learned every word to musicforthemorning after when they were in high school and were convinced that love felt exactly like the lyrics to "Strange Condition" and "A Girl like You". Later, during the show, the would sing along aggressively and dance a most awkward dance.

I sold my spare ticket to 30-something guy standing outside by himself. I could hear him playing "Crystal Village" on his iPod and I got the sinking feeling that in mid 04 he embarrassed himself trying to play that song acoustically for a girl who's hand he was desperate to hold.

75 minutes later, I was singing along to the chorus for "The Man". I am sure some casual observer noted that I was alone but singing with earnestness. The story that this observer came up with for me, I would not dare guess. I hope its a good one.