Last Saturday I went to see Steven Wilson Jr. play at Pier Six Concert Pavilion in Baltimore, Maryland. I actually went to see the opening act, The Lone Bellow, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Stephen. I hadn’t ever listened to Stephen before Saturday afternoon when I made the decision to buy the ticket but it turned out I really dug his music, as a certain mix of country and grunge, and he is quite the showman.
As I said I hadn’t listened to him before so I didn’t really know what to expect. The crowd was an interesting crowd, mostly country music fans. I was a little bit surprised by the lack of MAGA gear, which was nice. Although I did see one gentleman wearing a Make America Great Again Trump hat.
The overall vibe was really pretty awesome, friendly. Early parts of the show everybody was pretty chill but I did notice that there was an incredible amount of drunkenness towards the end of the show, which is a little different compared to some of the punk rock shows that I go to on a regular basis. I guess there’s a little bit more of a straight edge crowd going to the punk shows than I realized.
I think the highlight of the night was after The Lone Bellow opened up. Zach announced that the band would be by the merch table and to come over and say hello. I did make my way over there and I got to meet Zach and the others in the band briefly. It was really cool. I was able to tell him that I had come to see them specifically and that I’d been listening to them since their first album. He was actually quite astonished by that.
I told him that I’d first heard The Lone Bellow being played on an internet stream from one of my favorite radio stations, WMVY out of Martha’s Vineyard. That was probably when they released the first album, so 2013. He made me promise to come and see them for a full show rather than just a 29-minute set, which I’m more than happy to oblige.
It’s always strikes me as really interesting just how down-to-earth these musicians are when I talk to them. In the past I would have really been maybe a little bit starstruck, maybe afraid to say hello. What I found, especially going to these smaller venues, is that the artists really dig it when you come up and talk to them, especially if you’re there to tell them that you really enjoy their music.
Setlist
Unfortunately I can’t find a set list from either band from this night, not on any of the usual sites.