I Guess I’m Gonna Die Too Young

Thursday night was my 200th show of the year. I know that’s an impressive number, but for me, that’s pretty low. I’m still hopeful I will hit at least 300 by the end of the year. Although the quantity is a bit lower than I’d like for this time of year, the quality of the shows I’ve been seeing keeps going up, with Thursday night’s show being no exception. Although I didn’t know much about either act performing at The Fine Line, I was hopeful this show would be worthy of the 200-show milestone.

I was instantly impressed by opener Jack Fortune. Jack’s voice is incredible. There’s no other way to put it. It’s deep and dark, but comes with more than enough emotion to knock you on your butt. This South Carolina-based, Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter definitely had some heartbreak to sing about. His songs were slow and steady, almost reminding me of the sad whiskey-drinking songs of Lucero (my favorite band of all time), but Jack seemed to give all of these songs this slight modern twist. Watching him do his thing on the mostly empty stage reminded me of the first time I saw Barns Courtney. Although the set was painfully understated for the amount of talent that the audience was bearing witness to, there was a power and control that Jack had around the room that gave me chills. Based on what the headliner said, I get the feeling that this is Jack Fortune’s first “real” tour, but, like the headliner said, this is far from his last. Jack Fortune is a gem and a half with a talent that will absolutely be spreading like wildfire over the next couple of months and years. I know I say this about a lot of acts that I see, but I have a particularly strong feeling that this is just the beginning for this uber-talented musician.

I was super excited as the stage was turned over for the headlining act, Stop Light Observations. I’ll be the first to admit that I know nothing about this band. Truthfully, one of their songs ended up on a playlist that I often have playing in the background while at work, and it hooked me instantly. It wasn’t just the kind of song that made me stop and appreciate it for a couple of minutes; it was the kind of song that made me stop everything, clear my mind, and just let the music take over. I must have listened to “2young” at least two dozen times that day I heard it. I just could not get enough. From the drama behind the song to the dazzling piano part that was giving me slight Elton John vibes to the Struts-like swagger, to say I was hooked would be an understatement. I really didn’t spend much time digging into SLO’s other material. They had me with this one song, and they weren’t going to let me go.

Part of me wants to say that I should have done a bit more research into this band before committing to them for an entire night, but the other part of me is glad that I took this chance. It quickly became clear, within just a song or two, that this band is a bit of a chameleon kind of band. I had heard a song that was full of swagger and attitude. Full of life and spark. The songs that they opened their set with on Thursday night felt more like they were full of texture and beauty. Full of organic vibes and slightly jammy intricacies. It was not at all what I was expecting and, I’ll be honest, it took me a hot minute to really let myself fall into SLO’s world, but when I did, I realized just how beautiful it was.

I know calling SLO a chameleon kind of band doesn’t really describe their style, so let me see if I can get a bit more specific for you. It’s rock music, but it isn’t. It’s organic, free-floating ideas, performed through beautiful lines of notes that feel sexy and intimate, yet at the same time powerful and controlled. It’s a cool vibe that is next to impossible to really explain in standard terms because, at the end of the day, there’s nothing that standard about this band. Although I can’t find the right words to describe their style, the one word to describe the vocals of this group is, clearly, “stunning.” Vocalist William Blackburn’s voice is nothing short of a gift. It’s smooth and sultry but, like the overall vibe of SLO, comes with power behind it. Watching him was like watching an artist. The way he would move his body and his hands when hitting notes that I had never heard anyone else hit before was mesmerizing.

The night was a rollercoaster ride when it came to the curation of their set. Sure, it started slow and steady, but there were tracks that would pop out of the organic feeling in a way that was almost shocking. Some songs had that swagger that I had fallen in love with in “2young” and I loved the way those seemed to stand out from the more chill songs. At the same time, it all worked in a cohesive way that shouldn’t have made sense. The overall style and feeling of the music may have been constantly changing throughout the nights, but one thing that stayed the same was the beautiful talent coming through the speakers. Sure, what I got on Thursday night wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I was more than happy with what I got and so glad this was the show I chose to spend my Thursday night at.