Josh Rouse was in town Saturday the fifteenth at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. I have seen Josh Rouse before and was very impressed, so I had high hopes of this show. But, unfortunately for Josh I was a little dissapointed.

First of all, I think Josh’s first 3 records are perfect. But some of the later stuff is a little hit or miss for me. Some of it a little too smooth and way too retro.

The other night when Josh Rouse played, I was a little put back. He had the standard singer songwriter sport jacket, the KD Lang looking glasses, chewing gum. Matter of fact he looked way too much like KD, plus my friend was super annoyed by the gum thing.

The Cedar Cultural Center is an interesting venue. It was my first time being there. Located in the heart of the ghetto, it was a small theater type setting. They even sold beers and snacks, if you consider stale peanuts snacks. It was a first come seating situation, we had great seats at the right front.

My main complaint about the venue would have been…turn it up!! It just seemed way too quiet. Even the rocking songs were prett low. Plus the crowd was whisper quiet. Very theater.

Josh Rouse played a lot of new songs. It was probably 8 songs before I heard something I actually liked. Which is strange because there are a ton of Josh songs that I really like. But the whole thing seeemed kinda lame. He said it was the last show of this tour. You could tell. They looked like they could play this setlist in their sleep. Very robotic. Not too mention the bass player looked like Andre the Giant.

The first time I saw Josh Rouse play was in 2000 at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. It was a great show. It was just him and a guy playing really reverbed guitar. It was perfect. I think it was the Home tour. Pretty early in his career.

There were two things that blew me away. One was Josh did a cover of Shannon Wright’s Captain of Quarantine. I love Shannon Wright so it was impressive. The second thing was, let me preface this by saying 7th street is a tiny little place, Josh got off the stage during a song and walked around the venue playing and singing. Almost like a mariachi band at one of those mexican restaurants.

That’s the problem lately, too many singer songwriters are picking sleepy opening bands. Josh’s openers were very sleepy and very boring. Josh was a bit on the mellow side as well (obviously).

So, all in all, I was dissapointed by Josh Rouse this time around. I still love his discs and will continue to listen. I think he’s the type of music that needs to be listened to on disc. But I might think twice next time Josh Rouse comes to town live.  read more »