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Josh Rouse
Jason Collett
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Urban Lounge
Salt Lake City, UT
9/19/2007
By: Caz* Bevan
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For his first-ever performance in Salt Lake City, Josh Rouse
raised the crowd to their feet in anticipation of his performance.
For the brief half-hour of silence between sets, I sat by the bar,
people-watching for anyone who was obviously there to see the
show versus the people who were simply looking for a place to
get drunk at midnight on a Wednesday night.
I leaned over to my friend to acknowledge how, in Utah, of all
places, it's odd that a show should start after 11pm on a
Wednesday even if it was at a bar such as Salt Lake's popular
Urban Lounge. Before I could even say a word, the girl to my
immediate left leapt from the edge of the pool table and started
jumping up and down hysterically while holding the hand of her
boyfriend - who seemed more amused than disturbed by her
outward loyalty as a fan of Josh Rouse.
Rouse entered stage right and picked up his guitar with a sort of
humble stance, all the while looking at his feet rather than the
crowd. I found the stereotypical, oddball type of bass player to
be comforting and was amused by the keyboardist's obvious
desire to engage in any bit of main-stage limelight he could
find.
The show began, and almost immediately the women - and
some particularly high-fashion male fans - crowded towards the
front of the stage. For a moment I thought there might be a
mosh-pit, despite the genre. Rouse began and a surprising
number of people were, at the very least, humming along. Then
he played his sing-along song, "Hollywood Bass Player," which
created a sort-of room-wide swaying motion.
The Urban Lounge is a generic bar, slightly above the charming
type of hole-in-the-wall status with a capacity no larger than
500 people. For a late Wednesday night, I was surprised to find a
good 200 people there. The crowd cheered as Josh raised his
microphone to speaking level and acknowledged that he used to
live in Salt Lake City and had attended elementary school a few
miles up the street - a fact that not many people knew - but no
one was surprised as Utah has its own inbred lounge/folk
genre.
To my surprise, my official "+1" for the night began to sway and
sing along, admitting that he was somewhat of a fan. I had
brought him to the show particularly as his band, Palomino, is of
the same sort of "flavor." As I watched the crowd slowly begin to
interact and get into the music - and the already die-hard fans
smiling ear to ear - I wondered if Josh's mother would approve
of the overall fan swooning.
Rouse had a wine-and-dine attitude with the crowd, making it
intimate and thanking everyone for being there at what was now
1:00am. No one seemed to mind, despite homework or potential
tests at school the next morning and I dare say that he'll be back
for an even bigger, better crowd.
Salt Lake City has a Josh Rouse crush.
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