Butch Walker at the Stone Pony 3/20/09

transferred from my Facebook profile with some minor tweaking:

Some things never change…and sometimes that’s a good thing…for years Butch has raised the bar for live shows…and Friday night at the Stone Pony was no exception…the one factor that keeps me in awe is his stamina…coming from someone who’s ‘older than dirt’…I certainly can attest to his sheer drive and motivation…it's all heart...where most of us would be listing after a few hours of standing…the set list was as expected…going from a solo acoustic set to full blown band in just a few songs…he must have trusted the crowd to start off with ‘Atlanta’…the same crowd that seemed to puzzle him with their somewhat subdued temperament…maybe it was my sensing what he picked up on with his accurate 'crowd radar'...hard to tell because of the angle I was on...but it was confirmed as he called us on it…always a brilliant crowd manipulator, he easily got us right where he wanted …rockin' like this was the last time ...yet…after seeing him perform for so many years …I knew something was was 'missing'… no masterful storytelling last night...the verbal intimacy was the thing that was missing...or maybe i was the one who was missing it...mostly one song after another…and the occasional…”are you having a good time”...yet..in the end it didn't matter...no spoken words could attest for the crowd's spot-on comprehension of the silent cues…the turn of the microphone toward the fans…the appropriately timed requisite handclapping …and the mostly on-tune chorus…all done exactly as Butch would expect from his long-time fans…he knows his crowd…and that’s one of the things I believe we all love about him…seeing Butch onstage is like going home…it’s Butch’s ‘fan family’…it’s a mutual respect scenario…speaking of...the crowd was indeed mostly respectful…no obnoxious metalheads…a lot of ‘shush-ing’ when a slow song was played…and of course there was the occasional “I love you Butch” with the standard “I love you more’ back from the man himself…we were treated to a surprise guest appearance by Neptune NJ’s own Nicole Atkins…she sang Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ with Butch… (I do believe Butch will be producing her next album)..it was a pleasant change to have “Hot Girls…” as the ‘Butch in the Crowd’ song…though from my vantage point (which was directly at the walk up to the stage by the sound guy) Butch literally disappeared into the sea of fans…Canyons ended the show…and again, the crowd immediately broke into the two part round that we’ve all been “trained” to do by choral director Butch…and as he slowly brought it down to a hush.. he bid us goodnight and goodbye…yes, indeed, New Jersey certainly does love their Butch Walker.