Forecastle
As of Forecastle I hadn't yet heard Killer Mike and El-P's Run the Jewels. I would say it's a shame I wasn't prepared, but I don't think they did anything from that album while I was there. The first 20 minutes or so were all Killer Mike solo. It was a good show, but it hurt to see El-P off stage bobbing his head and not on stage. Unfortunately I had to leave early to catch Grace Potter. She put on an amazing show, so I don't regret it, but I would've liked to catch this powerful duo together.
Listen to Walking the Room with Brian Posehn
I've always meant to listen to Walking The Room, but I probably hadn't heard more than 10 minutes of it before this week. It's tough to jump into a podcast if there's no familiar guest or shared comedic sensibility right off the bat. This past week's episode gave me the "in" I had been waiting for: Brian Posehn, friend of WtR host Dave Anthony, joined the show as a guest co-host for the week. It's a great episode that pulls from their decades of friendship to offer brutal truths (on aging comedians without work) and hilarious revelations (sunroofs are for fathers to shoot other drivers the bird without their kids seeing it). The duo also dropped a huge news announcement. that Dave Anthony would be guest appearing on Brian's D&D podcast Nerd Poker!
Jonathan Richman
My only regret about Jonathan Richman's show at Cosmic Charlie's was that I didn't bring everyone I knew. He only played one song that I knew well ("Lesbian Bar"), but every song was so goofy and fun that even non-fans would've had a great time.
When trying to explain Richman to my girlfriend before I left for the show, I said he was a goofy romantic pop poet. It was as close as I could come without getting too specific with it, but I think that sums up his live show pretty well. He writes lighthearted pop songs that are loose with the traditional pop structure.
Richman clearly cares about his craft, but you'll never see his eyes more bright in concert than when he catches the room off guard with a remark or dance move and draws out some laughter from a dark room. And above all else, I'd have to say that's his live show's biggest strength. If he'd put on a completely serious show (first of all it wouldn't have been a Jonathan Richman show), I probably would've been a bit let down that he didn't play my favorite songs of his. But with his joyful performance and winking silliness I left the show more than satisfied.