Last night at The Barns at Wolf Trap, Ari Hest didn't play my favorite song of his off of Twelve Mondays, "I'll be There (To Make you Miserable)." But it doesn't take a keen mind to decipher why not. Hest was in a good mood, and that song would have thrown off the balance of the set list. "I've Got a Reason to Believe," "Sunset Over Hope Street," "Something to Look Forward to," the pop-laden "They're on to Me," and the dreamscape scenarios of "Cranberry Lake" and "Swan Song" were the thematic tracks throughout Hest's 90-minute set, all of which brimmed with such conviction and positivity that the crowd couldn't help but yell, "Come on Ari, stay happy!"
Sarah Siskind, a solid songwriter in her own right and a close friend of Hest's joined him on stage to play nearly inaudible lead guitar during crowd favorite, "The Weight," but added amazing vocal depth and texture to follow-up tunes "Set in Stone" and "Last so Long" ("Set in Stone" they wrote together in 24 hrs.). Following Siskind's exit from the stage, Hest once again addressed the crowd (for a self-deprecating guy he's quite the talker!) to inquire of any females to join him on-stage for a duet performance of "Cranberry Lake," a song Hest penned with singer/songwriter Amy Kuney years ago. An interesting note, my concert companion THINKS the same woman sang it with him at The Barns in 2011. She didn't know the words and her voice quivered, but it was a nice moment that has come to be a defining characteristic of Ari Hest shows.
In my opinion, Ari Hest is the guy that has remained in relative obscurity while his contemporary John Mayer exploded into mainstream culture. But as Hest said last night, "we're going to Germany in a couple days to play some shows, and they're actually singing my songs." We should all continue to keep an eye on this guy - the way I see it, he's always just one album away from the big time.
Setlist:
Reason to Believe
Morning streets
Ride the brake
Business of America
Until next time
The weight
Set in stone
Last so long
Give it time
How would I know
Cranberry lake
Dead end Driving
Anne Marie
Bird never flies
They're on to me
Sunset over hope street
Something to look forward to
Swan Song
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