SHOW REVIEW: John Vincent III Live at The Troubadour
Photo courtesy of Kaitlyn Renee
LOS ANGELES, CA | FEBRUARY 1, 2024 | BY TABITA BERNARNDUS
Setlist:
Highway Woman
City Rain
(back in LA appreciation)
Lover of Mine
Slow Slong
Money and My Pride
On and On (choir)
Dandelion (upbeat)
Rolling Stone
Juniper and Yellow
Lincoln, NB
Bluebird Singing (coming back to CA)
Next to You
In My Sheets
That’s Just The Way It Is, Babe
With the touch of just a few recognizable keys, John Vincent III wasted no time by welcoming the Troubadour crowd with “Highway Woman,” a hushed, slow-tempo track driven by piano and pining off of his most recent album Songs for the Canyon. Yet, Vincent was able to elevate this song to another level for the live set. Having invited a small choir group up on stage, the chorus of voices accompanying him gave breadth to the track that struck the room into complete awe. It had been a little over four years since the indie-folk artist put out any new music, with the last full body of work being his debut album Songs from the Valley which was released back in 2019. The hiatus seemed to have brought forth a warm enthusiasm from the crowd, and rightfully so. Whilst his sharp vocals pierced the room, whistles of excitement were showered and continued to fill any holes of silence throughout the night. It was clear that fans had been patient, but eagerly waiting for the next chance to see him live.
Vincent does an exceptional job at sketching worlds out of his introspective ponderings through song and then extending an invitation for us to join him in self-reflection. Whether a personal epiphany or unspoken words dedicated to a past lover were being sung, each instrumental choice backed its respective lyric in a way that enhanced the song into an immersive experience for its listeners. He was quick to bring out “City Rain” which does this very thing– crunchy chords paired with gravelly vocals that lay alongside lines like “And now you’re crying in the city rain / ‘Cause it just doesn’t feel the same / As it did when you were young / You were in love, and now you work away your days'' which altogether prompted feelings of deep nostalgia and familiarity. For “On and On,” Vincent introduced the track as being inspired by questions such as “Who am I?” to which he brought to the stage a band member to play the violin, a brilliant and powerful dynamic to pair with lines like “Been wondering through the echos of my life / I’m so tired of replaying / Every damn decision that I’ve made.” The room was thick with sheer amazement at the emotion-filled, yet controlled vocal delivery of incredibly vulnerable lyrics.
The set continued at a consistent tempo of slower, acoustic ballads up until the jazz-like song “Dandelion” shifted the room’s energy, with the upbeat rhythm of the drums guiding the crowd’s stomps and sways. With Vincent singing “We’ve fallen on hard times / But what’s a little pain without sunshine?” came a chorus of shouts, as if everyone in the room was in agreement over those opening lines. Despite the specific experiences he lays out in his writing, Vincent’s performance clearly allowed each person to sit with his words in a way that resonated with them.
It was apparent that Vincent recognized an overwhelming embrace from the room, sparing no time in-between songs to express his love for both the crowd and California, a place he used to live for a while which also heavily inspired his past music. He acknowledged the space between his first album and his most recent release, expressing how the next song felt like “writing about that feeling of wanting to dive back in and come back to California.'' This segwayed into “Bluebirds Singing,” a tune dedicated to a path that has been leading Vincent back to sunshiney LA. His words “I know I heard a song / But I don’t recall who it is that’s singing / So I took a walk with the ladies of the canyon” seemed to reverb off of the Troubadour walls, sending chills down my spine. As a California native, it felt like an honor to hear that Vincent had tapped back into a well of inspiration that ended up being found here.
Vincent’s interactions with the crowd could not have been more organic as exchanges of gratitude kept flowing out up until the very end of the set. With the finale of “That’s Just The Way It Is, Babe,” everyone felt certain that Vincent was back in the groove. Although it was a rather gloomy evening in LA, the show felt like a sweet embrace from the return of a friend that kept everyone warm all the way to their cars.
KEEP UP WITH JOHN VINCENT III
SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK