Joe Hawley live in Ann Arbor, 6/23/16
Yesterday I had the pleasure of finally seeing my first Tally Hall show! (well, Tally Hall-affiliated show, that is.)
The show was a free outdoor concert in Ann Arbor with the band JR JR, sponsored by Ann Arbor’s 107one. Â Joe Hawley was slated to do a 30-minute opening set. Â I got there early, so I caught a lot of sound checks before the concert started. Â Slowly a meager crowd of fans with black Tally Hall shirts began filling in the space in front of the stage. Â Joe himself was waiting around nearby and spoke with us for a little while before the show started. Â He was very nice.
During sound checks, Joe took the stage with his guitar and cell phone to test mic levels when used with some backing tracks. Â He actually played the entirety of an unreleased song, which appeared to be Bahamian Rap City from the Joe Hawley Joe Hawley ad twins video! Â It was a catchy tune mixing sung vocals and rapping. Â The lyrics seemed to be about protecting the environment.
Finally, the show formally started around 11:30. Â Joe took the stage with his acoustic guitar, kazoo, and megaphone, and played a short kazoo intro before introducing himself. Â The introduction was a little somber, as he recalled the days of rehearsing with Tally Hall nearby and said how much he missed the guys. Â He also stated that some the songs would have a few verses omitted since he was playing without his fellow band members.
The show started with a few purely acoustic songs- A Lady, The Bidding, and Hymn for a Scarecrow. After the bridge, Hymn for a Scarecrow moved into a short cover of Space Oddity by David Bowie, which replaced the usually chaotic orchestration in the middle of the song. Â Joe then plugged in his phone and played Spring and a Storm and Variations on a Cloud with backing tracks. Â Variations on a Cloud fittingly transitioned into a short cover of Jump by Van Halen, giving the song a whole new meaning. Â Jump’s lyrics in context with Variations on a Cloud take on a much darker meaning, considering the September 11th-themed video released last year (especially during the chorus; “Might as well Jump”). Â After that, Joe introduced JR JR and took his leave.
Overall it was a great show, and it was very exciting to get to hear Variations on a Cloud and Bahamian Rap City* played for the first time live. Â Joe played barefoot, which he said was calling back to one of Tally Hall’s earliest shows at the Blind Pig years back in 2005. Â I feel pretty lucky for getting to catch this rare appearance. Â I hope more shows will come as Joe releases his new album later this year!
* Bahamian Rap City was played during sound check only
Set List:
- Kazoo Intro
- A Lady
- The Bidding
- Hymn for a Scarecrow (w/ cover of Space Oddity by David Bowie)
- Spring and a Storm
- Variations on a Cloud (w/ cover from Jump by Van Halen)
A cool fan named Ryan caught some footage of Spring and a Storm here:
Thanks Coz for letting me write this review up!
sessu. holy shit.
i wish i got to be there