Michelle Malone, David Mead, Matthew Ryan, Thad Cockrell (11/15/06)



This was the first show I saw since living in the new house! One of the great things about living on the east side of Cleveland is that I'm still relatively close to all the cool music venues... Barking Spider Tavern, Grog Shop, Beachland Ballroom, and the Agora. One of the more interesting parts is figuring out the best way to get to this show at the Beachland (and back). Not bad at all.

This was definitely an exciting show to be my first. Three of the four artists listed I would have easily seen perform solo, so this was almost like a indie singer/songwriter Lilith Fair for me.

I've seen Michelle Malone several times in concert, mostly opening up for the Indigo Girls. I'm not a huge fan of her recorded work, but I've always loved seeing her live.

I've seen David Mead before at Wilberts. I've been a fan of his major label releases from way back, but I've definitely been much more receptive to his newer stuff.

I've also seen Matthew Ryan before, but didn't realize it was him (he fronted "Strays Don't Sleep) and I saw him open for Josh Rouse.

Thad Cockrell was a newbie to me, but I'm sure he couldn't do wrong with the likes of the other three in his presence.

Their show was stellar, with Matthew and David being my favorites of the night. They each performed a song (in the round) and each took turns assisting by contributing to each other's music. Both Matthew & David were charming and charismatic. Michelle focused on promoting her new album. Thad ended up being just a little strange, but was a nice compliment to the group.

Afterwards, I went up to buy Matthew's new CD (which was a burned copy because it wasn't released yet). I could get both David & Michelle's on eMusic.com. Though it seemed like Michelle was the only one interested in selling swag, and she was selling for everyone. Eventually David made it to the table and I got to chat with him again, reminding him of his show at Wilberts. I told him I was getting his CD from eMusic.com and asked if he likes that service. To my surprise, he LOVES it and said he was looking into doing a digital-only release through them next. Very cool, and nice to get an artists recommendation for one of my favorite online music services. (No I'm not getting any kick-back's from eMusic). :)

UPDATE: Just found out that Matthew Ryan is coming back to the Beachland! Monday, February 19th!

Posted: Fri - December 22, 2006 at 11:47 AM           |

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