Sister's Birthday weekend & Xavier Rudd

The last time Xavier Rudd was in the Central Florida area I was blessed to see him at a small club called the Social. Actually, my sister was with me at that show as well.

Congrats Xavier, for moving on up into the House of Blues venue category!

People ask, cause I've been known to be a music snob sometimes (see High Fidelity), so are you kinda miffed that this guy and his band you really love are playing in a bigger place which in turn means more people and closer into mainstream music?

My answer:

No. First, I love the fact that more people are tuning into other music than what is just on the radio. Second, I have this grand plan that everyone will absolutely love the music that I listen to and to me it's the more the merrier. Third it's the natural progression of an artist who becomes popular (how many bars/clubs would Dave Matthews have to play on a tour to accommadate his fans, answer-he'd never be able to take a break).

Besides, I still get to have the nostalgia and say, "well I saw Xavier when he was still playing tightly packed hole-in-the-wall places..."

So my sister and I head out to House of Blues Orlando to kick off her birthday weekend celebration with some awesome live music.

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Now, it was not a "packed" house and the balcony area was not opened. Having said that, this crowd did fill up the main floor pretty well. And it was an extremely kind crowd.

We talked to people around us, they talked back and when the music was going we were quiet and spellbound.Except when we were yelling for "Land Rights" with Tom, Wade & their gang (we were basically right in front of the soundboard), and only yelled during respectable pauses between songs.

The first thing I noticed was how mature Xavier has become musically. Improvisation was much more prevalent at this show than when I'd previously seen him. Anytime a guy is playing a guitar with all of his soul and a didgeridoo, well it just blows your mind! He was having so much fun and we (the rabble) fed off of it.

Finally, it was time for the encore. Xavier comes out by himself and starts in on "Land Rights" which meant that my sis on her birthday weekend got to hear/see the first time performance in the U.S.! Then they did 3 more tunes ending with "Let Me Be." Even got my sister a setlist from a very cool crew member after the show (Gosh I'm a good big brother, ::pats self on back::).

Here's a listen of my favorites from Xavier:

 

Let me know if you like.

~bbryon