Two outstanding shows this past week that renewed my desire to make live music a priority after two scattershot months.
I can’t recall the last time Josh Rouse made it to Indy. Debate during the show had the timeline as few as 3 years and as much as 8. I’d lean toward the latter because I’d remember if it had been within the lifespan of this site. The last time I caught Rouse was during the 1972 tour, which was back in 2003. Along with his band, the ex-pat — Rouse now lives in Spain — cranked through a 90 minute set pulling from as far back as his 1998 debut, Dressed Up Like Nebraska.
The biggest reactions of the night, as fans might expect, were for songs from what I consider his two most complete records, 1972 and Nashville. Tracks like Love Vibration, Winter in the Hamptons, It’s the Nighttime, and Come Back that best showcase his groovy, Paul Simon-esque songwriting had the audience swaying and singing along. New songs from his latest, The Embers of Time, fell in nicely as well. Rouse hasn’t veered too far afield from his formula the past 17 years, but that’s part of what makes his music so enjoyable. Who complains about comforting, hooky pop songs?
The Warehouse in Carmel(!) is a newer central Indiana music venue that just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Ireland’s Pugwash, one of the premiere power-pop bands, has been releasing some of the best music in the genre since 1999, but I’d long since given up the idea I’d catch them live. The band’s few trips to the U.S. were brief jaunts along the coasts. Even with the support of luminaries like Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, and Jeff Lynne, gaining an audience has been a challenge. So when I read the news of them touring in support of their latest, Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends) out on Omnivore Records, I expected a similar plan. But Carmel, Indiana? At the Warehouse? I’ll take it!
Lead singer/songwriter Thomas Walsh and his cohorts put on an engaging show that pulled from all points in their catalog. Kicking and Screaming off the new one, ahem, kicked off the set, and they never looked back. The 60-or-so people in the crowd were treated to several classic Pugwash songs, including Apples, Anyone Who Asks, Answers on a Postcard, Be My Friend a While, and, of course, It’s Nice to Be Nice. No Pugwash show is complete without something unexpected, in this case a rollicking cover of XTC’s Making Plans for Nigel. Even the two older Russian women who inexplicably wandered in, dressed like they’d been at a fancy event, seemed to be having a good time. Whatever – two tickets sold. Let’s hope Pugwash finds a way to make it back to Indiana again.