Customer Reviews

In the Dark: Live at Vicar Street (CD&DVD - 2 discs)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Great live set. If you're a fan you'll get what you expect with one of Josh's performances. If you're not a fan, well, time to listen.

I'm writing this more importantly to let you know this is PAL format, and will not play in a lot of the N America region DVD players. Just a heads up...

Mr. Ritter never disappoints. Watching him perform only adds to the pleasure he delivers, song after song. Buy it!

I'm a big fan of Josh Ritter's songs and although his studio records are great, there's a bit of flatness to the sound, to my ear anyway. When I saw him play the first time and realized what a wonderful band he was playing with and how nicely they play off each other I was frankly a bit surprised. Big swinging rhythms, interesting dynamic shifts, lots of energy, lots of partly-tongue-in-cheek rocknroll fun had by all. The bass player's marvel of a handlebar mustache really doesn't translate on the studio records. Here it is. These are really good versions of familiar songs, but more than that you get a sense of what Ritter sounds like having fun in front of his band.

You can hear the smile Ritter sang through during this whole evening. It was a magical show. He was just starting to get his first big public attention and had, I think, just returned from the UK and this was apparently the biggest US show he'd ever played. He walked out on stage and just stood there squinting out into the lights grinning in near disbelief for a long time, bouncing around on his heels. He played with huge energy and gratitude and he got plenty back from the audience. I think you can hear that here.

Ritter's Historical Conquests album contained more let-it-all-hang-out rock-and-roll than his previous records, which came through in a rollickingly fun live show. Josh has always given fun live shows, with some high-energy songs (e.g., Lillian, Egypt), but the Historical Conquests tour had a higher proportion of such songs, with more electrified rock sound as well. I own a few live albums from previous tours but was wishing for a quality recording from the Historical Conquests era, and this captures the feel of being there in-person to the extent that a live recording can. The guitars are more gritty than on the studio album, you can hear the laughter in Josh's voice every now and then (just at how fun this performing thing seems to be for him), and you get the energy of an excited audience singing along. The two ballads are more stripped-down but also more raw and intense (especially The Temptation of Adam) than the original studio recordings. For those who had the pleasure of seeing the Historical Conquests tour, this album provides some re-living, and for those who didn't, this record will give a reasonably good idea of what it felt like to be there.

Josh's music is down to earth and heartfelt. You can really feel the joy and passion coming across in this live performance on songs such as Thin Blue Line, Harrisburg, and Idaho. This is honestly one of the only music DVD's I'll get a hankering to listen to and put on over and over again. Great buy...

I really enjoyed the DVD. No problems playing it in my DVD player. I just wish it was widescreen.

I had the CD but gave it away to introduce my brother to a new act I enjoyed at a festival. I then bought the combo and was thrilled with Josh's performance. This DVD is a great concert show. All the songs are good and the commentary meaningful. I played "Thin Blue Flame" over and over.

Josh Ritter is one of the most talented songwriters I've ever heard. I'm really happy to have collected every CD of his I've been able to find and look forward to hearing his future work.

I discovered Josh totally by accident off one of those sample CD that came with I think my "Paste" magazine. I have been around the music business for over 40 years and am very hard to impress. Josh has done just that. He is a treasure of the UK thay should try to make it to the states. One of the songs on the DVD here "Wolves" has become one of my fave songs of all time. Listen to his sample cuts. You will be taken in.

Musically this is a great set. Take note of the DVD format though. It will not play in a Sony DVP-NC685V in the USA. It does play in all of my PCs but not my home theater.