When choosing what gigs to go to, two things come into mind for me: do I like their music (i.e. Does it make me feel something / make me want to dance), and live would they offer something more than a CD would? Joshua Radin firmly ticks both these boxes, with a great range of (mostly sad) story telling songs, and live he is funny, witty and engaging – just what I like in a live show.

I’ve only see Josh twice, and both times his support act has given him a good run for his money in terms of talent and entertainment. Last time it was Maria Taylor, tonight it was the rather lovely Meiko (pictured right).

Clearly nervous, she got the applause worthy of a headliner, and had tunes to boot – we’re talking the heart-rending stuff that producers of One Tree Hill, Greys Anatomy and the OC so love. Indeed, her second song, “” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy. Quick witted (her beer fizzed over – “oh well, 3 minutes and it’ll go down. Ohhhh! That’s what she said!!” to much laughter). She had the crowd on side immediately, and seemed genuinely touched at the reaction she got – think a one woman Tegan and Sara, mixed with a hint of Tom McRae and you’re halfway there

Then the stage was set for Ohio’s Josh Radin, who, needless to say, did not disappoint, feeding off the audience from the start to give a blistering show. Giving us exactly what we’d come to see, he was both amusing, entertaining and on top musical form. Treating us to some new tracks he’s been writing on the road these past few weeks, they sounded fuller, almost happier than the majority of his two albums. Taking full advantage of the backing of a full band, Josh and the band wasn’t afraid to stretch their legs musically, offering a welcome break from the sometimes morose subject matter.

A quick cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” was a personal highlight – completely acoustic, unplugged (a la Tom McRae’s 2007 rendition of Bloodless in London), along with welcoming Meiko back for “Today”. There’s so much I could talk about, but if I’m not careful I’ll descend into crazy fanboy mode, so just take my word when I say that it was absolutely fantastic.

Finally, it was time for Josh to leave, but not before delivering the great news that he’ll be back in October, playing another UK tour, including a show at London’s Koko and somewhere in Manchester, which will be great to catch him again.

Please note: in a moment of stupidity, I forgot my camera at last night’s gig, so there are unfortunately no pictures (other than some very dodgy phone pics which I won’t be inflicting on you). Apologies. After the jump is the setlist.
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Ahhh, Joshua Radin. Friend of Scrubs’ Zach Braff and all round top notch singer/songwriter. After catching him in London back in March, he’s decided he loves England so much he’s coming back for a proper tour, supporting Jools Holland on some dates and then some other shows on his own.

Tickets are already on sale. If you want tickets for the London date, they’re going quickly but the code word is “California”

Make sure you go get your tickets as he is one of the funniest, nicest and best singer/songwriters of the moment. You can catch him at:

Friday 10th July 2009 – Shrewsbury The Quarry (Supporting Jools Holland) (See Tickets)
Saturday 11th July 2009 – London Kew Gardens (Supporting Jools Holland) (See Tickets)
Monday 13th July 2009 – Sheffield O2 Academy 2 (Ticketweb)
Wednesday 15th July 2009 – Newcastle O2 Academy 2 (Ticketweb)
Thursday 16th July 2009 – Rochester Castle (Supporting Jools Holland)
Friday 17th July 2009 – Brighton Komedia
Saturday 18th July 2009 – Saffron Walden Audley End (Supporting Jools Holland) (Tickets)
Tuesday 21st July 2009 – Bristol O2 Academy 2 (Ticketweb)
Wednesday 22nd July 2009 – Oxford O2 Academy 2 (Ticketweb)
Thursday 23rd July 2009 – London Madame JoJos (Ticketweb – use the codeword “California”)

Okay, I’m tired, dealing with a dose of man-flu and have to be up in about 5 hours to go back to uni, so this may well be a shorter review than many are used to.

Joshua Radin. He’s a genius, basically. I went to Shepherds Bush tonight knowing one song only of his (Star Mile – I know, I know, joining the club), and came away thinking that he could well be up there with Ben Folds in the “US singer / entertainer”. Instead of the usual ploughing through tracks with little explanation, he explained the story behind many of his songs, with some incredibly amusing tales to boot. By the end of his 80 minutes on stage, I felt like I knew him really well, from his ex-girlfriends (two ex-girlfriends, two records…) to his taste in women (bookish, with an eco-conscience if possible). Basically, everything came down to love for him which had all the girls swooning and the few guys nodding in agreement.

Being American, he proclaimed Shepherds Bush Empire to be one of the most beautiful venues he’d ever played (having clearly not played Union Chapel), and gave the acoustics a go by doing two tunes completely unplugged, sounding sublime.

Supporting was Maria Taylor, a name that many won’t be familiar with, but one you should be. Cute, amusing and lighthearted, she won some brownie points from me by having the spontaneity to have a guy who was at the Birmingham gig sing backing vocals “‘cos life is spontaneous, right?”.

Hmm, maybe that review isn’t so short afterall, just not the best quality. Were you there last night? What did you think of Josh Radin and Maria Taylor? Leave a comment below.

Pictures after the jump.

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The pretty darned amazing Joshua Radin has announced a string of UK and Ireland tour dates for mid-March.

He may just be a singer-songwriter, but his tunes appear on many great films and on Scrubs on TV. Yes, I have a small thing for Scrubs. So shoot me.

Tickets repprtedly go on sale on Friday (9th January) at 9am for all dates.

Catch Joshua at:

Sunday 15th March 2009 – Dublin Sugar Club
Tuesday 17th March 2009 – Liverpool O2 Academy 2
Wednesday 18th March 2009 – Birmingham O2 Academy 3
Thursday 19th March 2009 – London Bush Hall
Friday 20th March 2009 – Glasgow King Tuts

Top photo comes from Tyler Shields.

To find tickets, we suggest you try using Needtickets. Needtickets.com offers you the most comprehensive ticket service in the UK. With one click you can search every nationwide online ticket agent and as a result you can find tickets for any live music event that can be booked online. Every ticket is 100% guaranteed as Needtickets.com only offers links to official agents.

For those in need of another singer-songwriter fix, then LA heartthrob Joshua Radin has announced a one off show at Kings College in London on Monday 8th October following a successful two night stint at Water Rats last month.

He said on his myspace bulletin:

“those two shows at monto water rats were the most fun i’ve had playing live in a while. you guys were so incredibly supportive. hearing the whole room sing every word to “winter” was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. i hope we can capture that type of vibe for this coming show. the tickets are now on sale but it’s the same amount of available tickets as the two shows at water rats (which both sold out a month before the shows) – so i’m letting my myspace friends know about it before it’s advertised in the newspapers over”

Tickets are available now from those money grabbing bastards, Livenation. Click here for tickets (£9.50 each, plus extortionate booking fees)

Photo taken from Tammylo’s flickr stream.