Table for 8,
left-center, about halfway back (good view)
The previous
two times I had seen Owen Danoff perform in person, it had just been him and
his acoustic guitar, so I was somewhat surprised Thursday evening when he came
out with four bandmates for his sold-out “homecoming” show at The Hamilton. It
totally worked, however, as there really wasn’t a weak spot in the entire
90-minute set, whether they were doing old favorites (such as the opening “Hometown
Headstone”, “Amsterdam”, and “Have I Ever Fallen”), newer tunes (“No Such Thing”
and the soon-to-be-released “Love On Your Side”), or a few well-chosen covers
(including Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”). The band
was top-notch throughout, adding a touch of rock snarl to songs such as “See
This Through”. Danoff provided some variety by going back to his solo acoustic
roots for several songs midway through his set, including “Don’t Think Twice It’s
All Right” (which he had used as his audition for The Voice). He wound things up with a great take on “Alexander
Hamilton” (from that musical you might have heard of) and crowd favorite “Never
Been Kissed”.
Given his
superlative songwriting, singing, improved confidence, and band, Danoff is now
the complete package, with a show that can play anywhere. With any luck, he’ll
be able to leverage the visibility and contacts he got from his appearances on The Voice into the stardom that he
clearly deserves. (Hint to Adam Levine: how about an opening slot on the next
Maroon 5 tour?)
Fellow Voice contestant (and Danoff roommate)
Mike Schiavo opened with a 40-minute solo set of mostly original material
(although he did include an interesting cover of Tove Lo’s “Talking Body”). Best
of luck to him as well, although for me his songs aren’t nearly as strong as
Owen’s. Of course, you could say that about a lot of people these days.
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