Music Box Supper Club
October 16, 2014 | Cleveland, OH
Michael Stein Photography
By Don Pattison:
As a long time Todd Snider fan, I have seen him perform a half dozen times in various settings, but his recent performance in Cleveland was the best I have witnessed to date . It seemed the Music Box fit him as the most appropriate venue for himself as a performer and his fans, who reveled in the intimate surroundings. The set list did not disappoint the diehard fans, and if it was your first Todd Snider show, it was a perfect primer to his vast catalog of material. The show on Thursday had plenty of Todd’s off-the-cuff and downright hilarious folkloric tales and meditations on contemporary culture.
If you haven’t been to a Todd Snider show before, his concerts are a showcase for his storytelling. He loves to tell stories, and his songs are just an excuse to tell more stories in between telling stories. His anecdotes are outrageous and hilarious, and even if you have heard him tell the same stories before, he still makes it fresh, and you can’t resist laughing. This show was no different, and Todd did not fail to keep the audience engaged and smiling.
The first set began the evening rather calmly, with Todd strumming away to the likes of “Good Fortune” and “Greencastle Blues” from his The Excitement Plan collection, as well as older favorites “Carla” and the opener “Can’t Complain.” The second set would pack a little more punch than the first and include more songs. Another unique aspect of Todd’s shows is that he specifically makes it a point to reach out to his fans in the crowd for requests. There were several requests at this particular show, which he covered in the second set, including the fan favorite “Beer Run.”
As always the show had brilliant high points. “Alright Guy” is one of the finest songs he has written, and I was thrilled to hear “Statistician’s Blues,” and “Corpus Christi Bay” was a nice rare song to throw in as well. A Todd Snider show is always fun. This is all the man does, and he has found a way to make his shows different every time, something you can’t say for about 98% of the acts you will see onstage today.
Edited by: Randy Harris
