Pictured is Josh Powell of Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery | Photo and review by Matt Knapp | Seeds Entertainment
Lincoln enjoys an active and diverse music scene, and was recently treated to a pair of fantastic performances by both local and touring artists.
Vega recently hosted An Evening with Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers, and entertained a packed house for nearly three hours.
The chairs and tables that usually occupy the space in front of the stage were arranged to box in the space in front of the stage. This proved to be a great decision, as Josh Hoyer was able to keep the audience on their feet and dancing throughout the night. Right away, their set starts off with a fast groove that drew people to their feet. Josh, who plays the keyboard and is the lead singer of the group, effortlessly solos along with the rest of the band, and delivers a blues voice that contradicts itself with his gritty wails often high into his falsetto. Featuring three backup singers and an assortment of instruments, Josh hooks the audience and doesn’t let go. For the few that stopped dancing during the Shadowboxer’s instrumental-only pieces, they were pulled right back to the stage like magnets when Josh began singing again. The sway of the few slow pieces played relied as much on the rhythm section as the smooth sway that Josh adds with his voice.
That’s not to say that the act depended just on Josh, though. Saxophone and trombone solos from Mike Dee and Tommy Van Den Ber allow for both talented musicians to showcase their crazy amount of talent. Benjamin Kushner, the only guitarist in the band, trades off between lead and rhythm lines throughout their set, and has screeching licks that somehow outshine the soloists before him. The spot-on rhythm in the percussion and bass from Justin Jones and Brian Morrow holds the group together, and keeps everything grooving. Hoyer’s back-up singers, each armed with just a microphone, take full advantage of their opportunity to show just how much fun everyone is having on stage.
Hoyer’s two-part set kept Vega packed all night, and rightfully so; there wasn’t a better way to spend a Saturday night in downtown Lincoln. A highlight of the evening’s performance was the close of the first half of their set. The Shadowboxers launched into a fantastic cover of Let’s Go Get Stoned by Ray Charles, and had over half of the audience singing and dancing along. Had Josh not have said they would be right back, one would think the audience was asking for an encore to the first half of the set. All in all, Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers put on a performance that audiences have come to expect from the 9-piece, and delivered in every way possible.
Just a few nights later, Lincoln and Vega was treated to the folk music of Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery. Comparable to the peaceful and thoughtful sounds of Iron and Wine and Fleet Foxes, Joshua Powell, who was formerly a rock artist, took the stage with his brother, Jacob, and bassist Samuel Richardson to put on a performance that couldn’t keep the audience from looking away. Joshua, who leads the trio with his acoustic guitar, harmonica, and vocals tells a story with every song that feels more like the tales from a wise man returning from years of travel than a song. Josh sings phenomenal harmonies with his brother, Jacob, and truly commits to every song in the set. Saved for the pinnacle of their Vega performance, Josh showcases his powerful and soulful voice in a performance that the audience could not look away from.
Two nights later, The Great Train Robbery made its way to Crescent Moon Coffee for a quieter evening of acoustic music with just Josh and Jacob. The smaller venue and audience brought fans who had just heard Josh a few days before at Vega, and offered them a chance for a more intimate and personal performance of some of Josh’s favorite songs and songs he didn’t perform at their previous show. At one point during his performance, Josh broke a string on his guitar, and opted to sit down at the piano to continue playing music for the small crowd that had joined him for the evening; something that most if not all other audiences didn’t get to experience on their nine month tour that was just wrapping up.
Notable from Josh’s performance was his song, “Simplicity (The Good Thief),” that tends to resonate with this writer and his Nebraska ties to The Good Life.
“Don’t complicate the simple life; just lay your armor down and put your arms around me. The elements are on our side, so sedate the fog away beneath the blanket of the day. It’s all we’re promised.”
