Josh Small / Austin Lucas / Sundowner / Tim Barry – Live 4/16/09 @ Reggie’s

Alright, here are some photos and a review of the stellar show I saw last night featuring Tim Barry (of Avail), Austin Lucas, Sundowner (Chris from Lawrence Arms), and Josh Small. It was almost like a half-assed (but kickass) version of the Revival Tour, but I saw Lucero the week prior so it’s all good. Anyhow, Josh Small kicked things off with a short set that was marred by some bad resonator/banjo sounds but I was still impressed with his solo material.

CYSTSFTS favorite (and Bloomington, IN native) Austin Lucas was up next and man did he ever kill it. He’s got a voice and songs that can just cut your heart in two and (while I don’t recall his entire set list) played faves of mine like “Man Alive,” “Sun Or Snow,” “Go West,” “Dead Factories,” “Somebody Loves You,” and a few more crowd requests. Definitely check out his latest album Somebody Loves You from Suburban Home Records as it is worth your time.

Then we got us some Sundowner and some crazy Sundowner fans (standing directly in front of me) who evidently came from Ohio just for the show. They were stoked to be there and even cheered for Neil (who wasn’t even playing the show). It was a little annoying but actually pretty funny. Chris played a bunch of songs from his album and even a few new ones. He was good but not great. I really love his record but I’ve seen Sundowner before and he has been better.

Tim Barry took to the stage but just as quickly as he and sideman Josh Small got up there, they headed down to the floor after some comments from Tim about how he wasn’t used to playing places as big as Reggie’s. Awesome. Tim played damn near every song of his I wanted to hear and provided (as usual) colorful commentary on his “old dude with acoustic guitar” folk songs. Tim is as captivating a performer as there is and as real as it gets. Nothing about Tim Barry is anything other than genuine and heartfelt and that’s why he is amazing.