Jeremy Messersmith Concert, Sept 17, 2015, Genevieve’s back yard

Jeremy Messersmith, 9-17-2015

Thursday, September 17 was a crappy day for me. I was crazy stressed at work and my head throbbed with pain for a big chunk of the day. My boss had resigned and it had finally hit me how much work I would have to cover after she left (with no possibility or desire to be promoted into her job.)  So all told, a sucky day. Also, the kid’s back to school party had been moved from the week before to that Thursday that we had to miss, and there was a school meeting after for the 5th grade trip, so it felt like a no-win day.  And the logistics of a 6 pm homemade-food-only potluck on a Thursday night were crazy tough. I had to do all the prep work, and most of the cooking, the night before.

Still, I was glad I went to the show.

First, it was at my friend Genevieve’s house. Not only was it great to support a friend, but she lives only a couple miles from us, and Genevieve was the one who went to the last Jeremy Messersmith Supper Club Tour house concert with Eric and me. Plus she has a beautiful home (She’s an architect extraordinaire), and a dog and 2 guinea pigs (selling points for Natalie.) She had even set up a “stage” in the back yard from logs and candles. Very pretty.

Second, it was a house concert. There is no better way to experience music than a house concert. It’s intimate, relaxed, not loud, and you can interact directly with the musician. The tricky part is just hearing about them while an act is small enough to want to do them, and knowing who you might like.

Third, it was an early show. We were out of there by 9, which was great for a school/work night.

Fourth, it was a perfect fall night: clear, crisp, not buggy, with a hint of fireplace wood smoke in the air- idyllic.

Fifth, it was (mostly) kid-friendly.  Most of the lyrics were clean. There were a few f-bombs and references to getting drunk, but lots of humorous lyrics too that made Natalie laugh. The dog also let her pet him, which was a highlight for Natalie. We did get a sitter for Sidney because we didn’t think he’d be able to stay quiet and it was past his bedtime.

Sixth, dinner was included. It might have been hard to cook in the hour before the show, but it was very nice to go to a potluck where everyone was asked to label ingredient on the dishes. Jeremy’s super club tours all have potlucks attached to them.

Seventh, Jeremy Messersmith delivers a great show. It was an entirely acoustic set, and Jeremy’s diction is clear over the music, so even for people who don’t know all the words, they could understand the clever nuances of the songwriting. I particularly loved the inappropriate question jar. It’s a mechanism for him to interact with overly polite, quiet, audiences. He made a point about how he added “inappropriate” as a social engineering trick to get fun, interesting questions into the mix. They added laughter to the event, and hearing his answers made you feel closer to Jeremy.

I’d say, if you’re having a bad day, there’s no better way to make it better than to go to a Jeremy Messersmith concert.@jmessersmith