Joshua Radin: @ Shepherds Bush Empire
It’s can be a tricky thing arriving at a gig with no idea what the act you’re about to see actually looks like. I came across Joshua Radin a while back and liked his tuneful guitar and whispery summer-breeze vocals, but without a proper picture to go by, went on to conjure a somewhat scruffy and bearded barefoot dreamer to compliment the strummy low-fi goodness of his music, and never gave it another thought. So I was somewhat perturbed when he strolled out on stage at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire last night with shiny shoes, fratboy good looks and a great beaming trust fund smile.
I was miffed, but as the set began playing itself out he proved engaging with no hint of the imminent cheese fest his haircut seemed to promise. His interaction with the audience and personable introductions to his songs by way of insightful and witty anecdotes went some ways to pushing hippy dude further back into the shadowy land of imagine-dom. And he kept building on that momentum, so by half way in, “preppy dude” was three sets up and seemed to be strolling along quite nicely.
Now I’ve been to this venue more times than I care to remember, but can’t recall any other act having the temerity to unplug their guitar, step away from their microphone, and carry an entire song un-amplified as Radin did at one point during the last third of the show. It was a ballsy stunt pulled off with panache, and the moment in which the bearded bare-footed dude in my mind flatlined for good.
However, the truly charming thing about the evening was how Radin seemed genuinely baffled at how he, a relatively unknown from Ohio, had managed to sellout a London venue like the SBE, and he wasn’t the only one. At one point he even got a band member to take his photo, arms aloft in front of the packed out auditorium, like a sports fan on his first visit to Yankee stadium. His gratitude and humility was tangible, and to his credit he ceased the moment and delivered a show worthy of its numbers.
I found his music via Zack Braff’s Garden State blog where the actor/director and close friend of Radin’s, gave a ringing endorsement of the first album “We Where Here”, and urged fans of the movie and soundtrack to go out and buy it. So I guess contrary to what Garth Brooks sang in that song of his, it does pay to have friends in high places. However, after what I saw of him last night, I suspect Joshua Radin wouldn’t have had a problem finding his own way.
Joshua Radin “No Envy, No Fear”
Clockender 