Jeremy Messersmith At The Icehouse

Minneapolis singer-songwriter Jeremy Messersmith had a residency at the Icehouse over the course of January. Like the good music journalists we are, Ear Coffee fought tooth and nail for the last tickets of the sold-out final show to send yours truly to review it. The Icehouse set a mood that was in between a hipster dive bar and supper club. There was a small space in front of the stage cleared for standing room with booths lining the walls. The venue did a good job of filling the club without losing the feeling of intimacy. The only downside to the Icehouse was their sound system. Vocalists with more bassy voices were easily lost in the mix.

The first band of the evening was an indie pop/rock band called 4th Curtis. They are a very animated trio from St. Paul that focused their songs on LGBT topics. When the band got on stage, it was hard to tell what they were going to sound like. They looked like they were going to sound super far out and artsy or something really tame. After shanking off their first song anxiety, 4th Curtis settled on this alt pop sound that the crowd was enjoying. What sold them as an opening band, was their stage presence. They did not take themselves to seriously live. The drummer would act out the lyrics when not playing, and the keyboardist never stopped dancing.

Sarah White was the second artist of the night. The Minneapolis R&B singer felt like an odd pairing with 4th Curtis and Messersmith. After a few songs, it made sense why White bridged the gap between the two bands. Her music presented a good change of pace between the angsty alt rock (4th Curtis) and indie pop (Jeremy Messersmith). White's music focused on sexuality and spirituality. It would take listening to her music after the concert to fully understand what she was trying to convey because her vocals were lost in the mix. Even with the mixing problems, White's band was phenomenal. They grooved along and never lost their mind link. White was a great band leader as well. She used her body, much like James Brown would, to control the tempo and volume. White does need to work on her stage banter. She would start saying something but them talk and talk until she started the next song. It seemed like she never made a point.

Finally, after a short change over, Jeremy Messersmith took the stage. The crowd came alive as he burned through his first three songs. He didn't really pause to address the audience until between his fourth and fifth song. Messersmith's wit and stage presence kept the energy going throughout his set. He even played a couple of new songs for his final night at the Icehouse. The first was about televangelist Jim Bakker, whom Messersmith called, "A piece of shit." The crowd loved every minute of the blues rock jam about the "hard workin' televangelist." Along with his song about Jim Bakker, a few other new songs were played. The the second song, "I Don't Know How To Love You" (working title), was if Messersmith were to write a Carole King song. It was a slow ballad that you could dance to.

After this song he told the audience he was working on a new record, and it would be out in March. He wanted us, the audience, to keep it a secret, but little did he know that the media was there (cue cackling).  To cap off the night, Messersmith played a handful of songs acoustically. Unfortunately, no ukuleles made an appearance which bummed out one concert goer. She wanted to hear his song "Everybody Gets A Kitten" from 11 Obscenely Optimistic Songs For Ukulele: A Micro-Folk Record for the 21st Century and Beyond.  The final song was about treating yourself right. The comedic tune involved dressing up fancy to go to a nice dinner all alone, and even doing all the things you like in the bedroom. This was easily the crowd favorite, and the perfect way to end the concert.