Photo by Melissa Maggi

I anticipated Greg Laswell’s show for at least a couple months. I’ve been a huge fan since Through Toledo in 2006. There aren’t too many artists where I collect all of their albums, but Laswell is definitely one of them. When I heard he was coming to Pittsburgh to promote his album Take a Bow, I practically counted down the days. He was playing a late show at Club Café on a Tuesday. That tells you right there how much I wanted to see his show, I was out late on a “school” night (which he even thanked us for and used the same term)! I hadn’t been to Club Café in a while, and looked forward to hearing Greg belt out his songs in a wonderful venue especially in terms of sound factor and acoustics.

After waiting outside in the rain for, oh…probably about 15 to 20 minutes, the line of people were finally allowed to move inside (there was a previous show finishing up). I grabbed a seat at the bar in a prime spot to see one of my favorite musicians. The first band to start was Brooklyn residents, Harper Blynn (formerly Pete and J). They’re touring with Laswell and Cary Brothers and serving as the house band for both. One of the songs they played was the title track “Loneliest Generation” from their debut album. I enjoyed their music; it was full of rhythmic, upbeat rock that you couldn’t help but to tap your feet.

After a couple of songs from Harper Blynn, Greg Laswell just kind of snuck onto the stage and took his seat at the keyboard. Immediately he broke into “Off I Go,” one of the tracks that likely got him some new fans since it was featured on the season 5 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. When listening to the album, it’s not my favorite song; but seeing it live was most definitely my favorite out of all 8 songs he performed. The composition of the song is already great, and hearing it played in person and being able to pick apart every instrument and melody is absolutely amazing. The way Laswell plays the piano is mesmerizing and beautiful. The sections where the drums kick in are so perfect it gives me chills!

“That It Moves” seamlessly comes in as the next track. It’s an uplifting and innocent song that had the entire crowd swaying back and forth. Greg announced his next track, “Around the Bend” and informed the crowd that it’s a newer song from Take a Bow (which I reviewed a few months ago, and you can read here). Next up was the first song from the album, “Take Everything,” which was comfortable and well played. Laswell also played a few from his 2008 album, Three Flights from Alto Nido, including “Comes and Goes (In Waves)” and “How the Day Sounds.” The former is a sad, melancholic song which he followed with another sad cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” which did not appear on his 2009 Covers EP, but has appeared on a few television shows and movies. Just when I was starting to feel melancholy myself, he finished off his show with “What a Day” and “How the Day Sounds.” I loved how the latter was his last song performed that night.  The opener and the closer were both great picks and placed well within the set. You know how people say, “Oh, their album is OK, but you must see them live, it’s amazing”? Well, I love all of Greg Laswell’s albums and I might even venture to say that this night gave me one of the best shows I have ever seen…yet. How’s that for a superfan?!