Great Josh!

When Josh Ritter says this feels like a homecoming show, there’s no point in arguing geography. An unmistakable sense of community buzzes around Vicar St. By the second number, ‘Roll On’, the already giddy audience are fizzing fit to burst. The combustive potential is realised when Josh pulls out his big gauge engines with ‘Kathleen’ and a rockabilly stomp through ‘Harrisburg’, phrasing magnificent and his voice not the featherweight gossamer of the records but a muscular young Springsteen or a Closing Time-era Waits.
Riffing on American politics Ritter compares the surreal election of Arnie in California and his own popularity in Ireland, asking in clipped West Coast Austrian, “How did this happen?” The answer lies in the way the crowd erupts for a rollicking ‘Me and Jiggs’, baying their approval of the lyrical replacement of Townes Van Zandt by spiritual progenitor Johnny Cash.
Impressive support act Sarah Harmer, returns for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Long May You Run’ featuring Gram and Emmylou octave harmonies before ‘Golden Age Of Radio’ has Josh’s high register worried mind radiating a plaintive passion complemented by his widely acclaimed suit, which looks good enough to wear while dying in the back of a Cadillac.
Showing a Hansard-esque grasp of crowd dynamics Ritter steers set closer ‘Come And Find Me’ into a-capella call-and response, delighting the congregation. Hauled back for an encore by pure enthusiasm, he delivers an uplifting ‘California’ without mike or amplification (resulting in an unprecedented audience whistle-along) and finishes with a mighty ‘The Snow Is Gone’. A triumph.