What a night of great music from quality musicians! Gomez and Josh Ritter took the Ram’s Head Live (an amazing Baltimore venue, go if you haven’t been, but more on that later) stage with amazing energy in front of a packed house.

Before the concert, I knew only a handful of Gomez’s songs and even fewer—maybe one—of Ritter’s well enough to sing along to (albeit quietly, unlike the token obnoxious super-fan lady who always finds a nice spot behind me at shows, splitting her time between trying to “sing” louder than the band and yelling out song requests that fall on deaf ears), so I had no trouble remaining an objective listener and observer.

The moment he stepped on stage, I could tell Josh Ritter was a lovable guy. To the audience’s delight, he had the music to match his personality. Ritter and his five piece band (two guitars with Ritter playing rhythm, bass, keyboards, and drums) played a fifteen-song, 75-minute set. It hardly felt that long; time flies when you’re having fun, and everyone in the crowd could see Ritter was enjoying every minute of it. At 32, he looks much younger than he is, and between his thanking the audience profusely early and often and  “aw shucks, I’m so happy to be here” smile, the entire venue sensed Ritter’s positive energy.

The folk rocker dressed in all black a la Johnny Cash, and his music reminds me of Bob Dylan, Ben Kweller, or Conor Oberst on happy drugs, if you prefer. What do these four have in common? They are patently American songwriters, and Ritter, hailing from Idaho, belongs right there with them. What makes him different is that he doesn’t try to do it all himself – and thank god for that, because Ritter and his band enjoy great chemistry. The layering of the keyboards over walking bass lines separates Josh Ritter from the formulaic pop singer-songwriter; in fact let’s reserve that term for the Jason Mraz’s and Jack Johnson’s. The singer-songwriter title hardly does Ritter justice; his music has depth and his songs possess maturity. Plus, I’m a sucker for the organ with heavy sustain and keyboardist Sam Kassirer is a dead ringer for Schroeder from Peanuts. Ritter and his band have character, and they can even rock when they want to (“Mind’s Eye” kicks ass live). My favorite song of the night was his last before the encore. One part Subterranean Homesick Blues and two parts Modest Mouse, “To the Dogs or Whoever” is Josh Ritter in a nutshell: meaningful, creative lyrics and memorable hooks over a fun, driving rhythm all complemented by four cerebral musicians that understand they don’t have to overplay to sound great.

Gomez hit the stage around 9:50. They tore through fifteen songs, a third of which come from New Tide, their upcoming album that hits stores this Tuesday March 31. If you haven’t been, Rams Head is big enough, with multiple balconies and several bars, to have the energy of a club show, yet small enough to have great sight lines and that feeling of intimacy. Feeling close to a band like Gomez was a thrill, and after hearing the softer Josh Ritter, the five lads from the UK had a huge sound. A band that has three (!) lead singers, each with a distinct tone and style is as impressive as it is rare. All five members are very versatile, allowing Gomez to go seamlessly from hard rock to blues to more melodic almost lullaby-like tunes.

Gomez started out with “Notice” and “See the World,” two hits from their 2006 album How We Operate, almost as if to get the more popular songs out of the way to make way for new songs the crowd might not know. After a few new cuts as well as one or two older tunes, Gomez worked the crowd into a frenzy with “Airstream Driver,” the first single from New Tide. Hearing “Airstream” live simply puts the album version to shame. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds great in the studio, but the energy behind the live version was incredible.

The band and the crowd just rolled from there. “Win Park Slope” was my favorite new song of the night. It starts with a dancey little guitar line, builds into a slow and ominous verse, and then bursts into a pounding bridge as the singer repeats “gotta win, let me win, gotta win, gotta win.” It was the most intense song on the night and the crowd really grooved to it. Each of the new songs, though they did not sound similar to one another, had a distinct style. If How We Operate was Gomez’s lightest and most pop oriented album, the cuts from New Tide point to their most experimental work yet. Judging from the new songs I heard, New Tide promises to be a very intriguing album, complete with many layers, genres, and emotions.

I had hoped Gomez would improvise or jam a good amount, but a great performance of “How We Operate” complete with a shredding improvised guitar solo to close the show certainly made up for it.

To me, the mark of a great show is that given the choice I would go back and relive it all again. All I can say is although this was my first time seeing either Gomez or Josh Ritter, it certainly won’t be my last.

Josh Ritter 2009 Tour Dates:

03/31 – Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theatre*
04/01 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt+
04/02 – Easton, MD @ Avalon Theatre
04/03 – Norfolk, VA @ Attucks Theatre^
04/04 – Montclair, NJ @ The Wellmont$
04/05 – Tarrytown, NY @ Music Hall
04/17 – Beverly Hills, CA @ Wilshire Theatre%
04/18 – San Diego, CA @ Spreckels Theatre%
04/21 – Bakersfield, CA @ Majestic Fox Theatre%
04/22 – Carmel, CA @ The Sunset Center%
04/24 – Sacramento, CA @ Convention Center%
04/25 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield%
07/04 – Cork, Ireland @ The Marquee>
*Mark Erelli supports
+Co-headline with Gomez
^David Schultz supports
$Sondra Lerche supports
#The Low Anthem supports
%Opening for John Prine
>With full 24-piece orchestra and special guest, Lisa Hannigan

Gomez 2009 Tour Dates:
03/31 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
04/01 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre+
04/02 – Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Ballroom*
04/03 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg&
04/16 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
04/17 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
04/19 – Cambridge, UK @ Junction
04/20 – Manchester, UK @ Academy
04/21 – Wolverhamtpon, UK @ Wulfrun Hall
04/22 – Norwich, UK @ UEA
04/24 – London, UK @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
04/26 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
04/27 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
04/28 – Liverpool, UK @ O2 Academy
04/30 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy
05/01 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
*Black Joe Lewis supports
+Co-headline with Gomex
&Alberta Cross supports