You Had to Be There

. . . but I'm going to try anyway. Last night was my second time seeing Martin Sexton in concert (the first being about six months ago). The previous time for much of the show he had the opening act, the Ryan Montbleau Band, backing him. This time was more his typical show: Martin, a guitar, a regular mic, and a second mic with various distortion settings so he could vocalize electric guitar and other sounds to accompany himself. Very different shows. But I think that's the point. He's always scatting and improvising and high energy, never really taking breaks or talking to the audience that doesn't in some way include music. I'm pretty sure he didn't have a set list last night, as he immediately responded to requests and would spontaneously transition to other people's songs--one he was even singing, "I wish I knew the words to this song." So in an attempt to give you a sense of his concert experience, I've compiled a few different versions of him performing the same song, "Gypsy Woman."

This first one is probably the most similar to what we saw last night. Distortion mic around the five minute mark:



Here's a bouncier version where he spontaneously transitions to another song:



A more sedate version with a different tone:



Perhaps closest to the recording, with a bit of a backing band:



A capella on the street for fans who couldn't get into a sold out show (that might even be Kansas City with the Ryan Montbleau band; that looks like the KC Star building in the background, which is by Crosstown Station where they played):



A different song (but also one I really like), getting bluesy with John Mayer, who introduces him as "my favorite artist" and the "most treasured singer-songwriter I've ever heard in my life."