After work, I swapped business casual for my Pomplamoose tee (courtesy Ian way back when), and we headed downtown. Before the show, we enjoyed a nice romantic dinner at B Good over a shared a mint chocolate chip shake. Then we walked to Cafe 939.
I was slightly worried we'd get stuck in the back, but a 7:15 p.m. arrival put us near the beginning of the line, which by 8 p.m. resulted in a front row square of floor next to Jack Conte's keyboard, right between a nice Japanese Berklee student (name pronounced you-skay, no idea how to spell it) and two little girls. Pomplamoose has a very diverse following.
The show was everything we hoped it would be. Lauren O'Connell opened with an excellent acoustic set — she's a very talented and honest songwriter. After a few stage modifications, Jack and Nataly walked out with Carlos (drummer) and Ryan (bassist for Ben Folds' latest tour). They are as funny, quirky and talented as they look/sound on YouTube.
Jack is energetic and an entertainer — he joked about how he was talking between every song. Nataly is his perfect balance — calm, with the ability to deadpan one-liners in response. When someone hollered a request for one of Jack's songs, he said, "This isn't a Jack Conte show, it's a Pomplamoose show!" to which Nataly replied, "There's a difference?"
They played through a good chunk of their repertoire. Nataly dubbed us, the audience, the best backup vocalists for "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'" and for "September", their "last song" they divided us into three sections and assigned backup parts. After much cheering, they returned for two more songs and finaled by rocking out "Centrifuge." As cliche as it sounds, I couldn't believe it was over. How was that two hours already? It was in that moment I realized Pomplamoose is not just one of my favorite bands, but my favorite band period.
After the show, we stuck around to buy "The Album You Bought at Our Show (thanks for that)." and meet Lauren, Jack and Nataly. I clammed up and kept repeating, "You're amazing!" but managed to wow them with my shirt — one of the original batch of v-necks promoed on their "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'" video (2:31), and the fact I've been a fan for almost three years.
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| photo taken and twittered by @pomplamoose |
We also signed their poster. I like thinking our handwriting and some of Ian's sharpie ink is hanging on a wall in their recording studio.
Click here to see the rest of our Pomplamoose photos on Flickr.