[ATTENDED: December 17, 2017] Henry Jamison
We had never heard of SOPAC when I got tickets for this show. We were supposed to go to see Darlingside in Bethlehem, but it was the same night as a Boy Scout event (which, frustratingly we did not go to, anyhow). But I hoped that they would be playing somewhere else nearby and huzzah, they were playing in South Orange!
Well, the theater is charming and the sound is phenomenal. I can only hope that other people that we like will play here.
Main Street also had some yummy looking restaurants, but we didn’t have time to check them out. We did arrive in plenty of time to claim our 2nd row (!) seats for this show.
As the lights dimmed and we were told to power off our phones (three humorous times). Then Henry Jamsion walked out with his phone on–saying he had to have it on during the show.
He never introduced himself, just started playing.
It was just Henry and his guitar (I’ve since listened to his record and he has accompaniment which sounds really good, but it didn’t feel lacking without). He plays a delicate strumming style–no pick–and sings folk songs with intricate lyrics.
The first song was “Varsity” and it reminded me of Nick Drake. And then he sang an unexpected and lovely falsetto and suddenly the song took on even more resonance.
After the first song he talked about playing Bethlehem the night before and that the big difference between playing arts centers and clubs is that in arts centers people clap longer and drink less. He also said that the small theater was making him censor himself (I thought he sang “she was ffff varsity.” He said that he had one “fuck” in this song which he self-censored and then one later in “Through a Glass” (which he didn’t censor since we were all friends by then).
In between songs he made some rather funny comments and asides, which was quite unlike the seriousness of his songs (most of which were about relationships). The guys in Darlingside said that Henry is a very funny guy, and that it is very easy to make him giggle And you could kind of see it.
Although no one really liked his sad story about people failing to rescue deer that fell through the ice. Despite some awkward chuckles he did insist that it wasn’t funny. And it wasn’t.
By the end of his set the audience was quite won over by him. He sang quietly but clearly and it was very easy to hear the thoughtful lyrics. His music is pretty and earnest and quite lovely.
He told us that he normally likes to hang around after the show but that since tonight was the last night of the tour he was getting in his car right away and zipping back home at 75 MPH in the dark.
I don’t know all the songs he played, but I recognized:
Varsity
Jacket with the lovely falsetto (what was i supposed to SAY to her)
Real Peach
Through a Glass
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