I was worried that they might cancel the concert. With just about five hours to go until Justin Townes Earle‘s opening act, Joshua Black Wilkins, was supposed to start playing, the online map of the Lakewood, NJ venue made it clear that the show was far (far) from sold out.
It was surprising to see Earle booked at the out-of-the-way Strand. I would expect, in this area, to see him play Brooklyn. The Strand is down the shore, about 90 minutes outside of NYC. Though I didn’t really understand the location-performer pairing, I’d go see Earle anywhere. Once my friend and I arrived at the theater, I got it. The Strand is one of those out-of-time jewels. It’s a small theater. It feels friendly, like it should be hosting community theater. But it’s gorgeous; an opera would be at home there. It deserves great performers. It deserves voices like Earle’s.
“You’ll be sitting onstage.”
That’s what the ticket-taker lady told me.
“Onstage?”
“Yeah, pretty cool, right?”
Just like that, a night out to see one of my favorite singers turned into an event. The people who run the theater put seats for all of us right up on the stage. We faced out toward the empty seats, the dark balcony. My friend and I lucked out: on the stage and front row. We were, maybe, 10 feet from the microphone.
Wilkins played with his eyes closed. We were almost too close. I would have done the same. But Earle looked me (and, I guess, everybody else in the front row) right in the eyes. Over and over. It felt like we got to know each other a little bit during that show. I was, I’ll admit, a little embarrassed that he could see me mouthing the words to his songs. I couldn’t help myself. And I know I didn’t imagine this: we shared a good laugh when the drunk guy next to me nearly sat on my lap. It happened during “Move Over Mama,” a song from Earle’s latest album. Move over, indeed.
Of course, close delivers more than laughs. It was easy to see that playing “Mama’s Eyes” gets Earle. That, when he told a guy in the audience to fuck off, he really meant it. That he wasn’t joking when he said he’d had a really bad day and was up for a much better night. That the clear liquid in his plastic cup from the onstage bar was hitting him hard.
And we were right there when he finished with this…
