-
- Singapore concerts
-
Artists
Get your tour dates seen by one billion fans: Sign up as an artist
Esme Patterson is currently touring across 1 country and has 1 upcoming concert.
The final concert of the tour will be at Bluebird Theater in Denver.
Great performance. She's so much fun, very engaging, and is a great performer. Her songs are even better in person, and the lead guitar player was insanely good. 100% worth seeing!
As far as local music scenes go, Denver's not shabby. The last several years have spawned a handful of national acts from the region; most recently the Lumineers, Chairlift, and Nathaniel Rateliff nabbed serious critical and public acclaim. The greatness certainly doesn’t end with those bands, but extends to several talented locals performing anything from rock to folk to electronic (but very little metal for some reason). I would argue that Denver fosters such a thriving musical community because of the exceptional venues, publications, radio stations, and audiences supporting its efforts. With all of this great music happening in Denver, I often wonder who will be the next performer to amass a significant national audience.
I predict the next Colorado artist (albeit, one who currently claims to be based in Portland, Oregon) to break big may very well be the country/folk rock songstress, Esmé Patterson. Recently featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, Patterson has already accumulated some bona fide national cred (i.e. performances on Conan and Letterman, a collaboration with Shakey Graves), as well as some stellar critical attention from her new album, We Were Wild. In spite of Portland’s claim to Patterson, she’s as iconic of the Denver music scene as any other figure performing in the Colorado Front Range, particularly due to her prior role in the collective of musicians and projects associated with the folk rock band Paper Bird.
Patterson has just embarked on a nationwide tour to promote We Were Wild with a band composed of some super talented musicians (a couple of dudes who I guess are named Felipe and Alex playing guitar and drums), and I caught the kick-off show moonlighting as a CD release party at the Larimer Lounge in Denver. The show represented my second go around with Patterson (I saw her perform in Boulder back in April when she opened for the San Fermin tour) and was definitely impressed with her abbreviated set. Patterson used the stint touring with Sam Fermin to perform a few of the tunes from the new album, as well as some of the best from past discs, most notably, her lyrical defense of the titular figure in the Dolly Parton tune “Jolene,” entitled “Never Chase a Man.” Particularly memorable was Patterson’s performance of what would be the opening track of We Were Wild, “Feel Right.” Although she is billed as a sort of a folk-tinged, country roots artist, “Feel Right,” features an aggressive surf punk vibe, with a churning Dick Dale-esque bassline. At We Were Wild’s release party Felipe and Alex beautifully disassembled this tune with some shredding guitar by Felipe and a surprisingly lights out drum solo by Alex.
Speaking of the release party, the show at the Larimer Lounge had a definite family and friends vibe, as it featured Patterson’s sister (Jenny Snyder, another Paper Bird alumna) signing back up for her husband’s band Inner Oceans during the preceding set. Patterson even tapped the talented Inner Oceans’ bassist, Julie Mendiolea, for her set.
We Were Wild offers an A-side with a handful of pleasant, up-tempo tunes – the album kicks off with the aforementioned “Feel Right,” followed by some great bar songs, such as “No River” and “Francine.” At the album’s midpoint, starting with the song “Guadalupe,” Patterson’s folk/country leanings appear, creating a unique, dichotomous vibe, especially compared to her other two solo efforts. This pattern of following rock tunes with country ballads likewise expressed itself in Patterson’s concert set list.
After the intensity of “Feel Right,” Patterson brought the energy way down, playing the country relationship lament “Wantin Ain’t Gettin,” featuring Felipe on slide guitar, after which, the “dudes” and Mendiolea exited the stage to leave Patterson alone with an acoustic guitar to sing the lovely ballad “Yours and Mine.” A perfect end to a perfect night of local music in Denver.
Get your tour dates seen everywhere.
Sign up as an artist
Log in to your account
