It was quite a manly night on stage at the Middle East Club Upstairs on April 19th, which meant the audience was dominated by excited young women. Jesse Ruben, Josiah Leming, and Ron Pope serenaded the crowd on the first night of their tour together.
Jesse Ruben opened the show with only him and his acoustic guitar. And no, he was “not the guy from Boy Meets World,” as many people mistake him for, but he is a self-professed “Stupid American Guy.” That song came from a personal experience involving a French girl and his loathing for art museums and it was really honest and catchy. He went to Berklee College of Music to study and not do much else, he told the audience in his song about staying in most nights while everyone else went out to party. His songs were funny and heartwarming. As he puts it, “When you get a white dude and a guitar, you get a lot of ‘she doesn’t love me’ songs,” but Jesse Ruben draws on his personal experiences, his friends, and then he just makes stuff up, too.
When Josiah Leming took the stage, he launched right into a song without any introduction. He released so much emotion on his electric guitar and keyboard that by the end of his set, his suspenders couldn’t handle it any more. Although he looks about sixteen years old, he’s been through enough experience to make him an old man. He told the audience about he left his Tennessee home at seventeen years old and has been travelling around since then. That might be how he picked up his slightly British accent when he sings. His voice also struggles to release those inner struggles, with outbursts of raw throaty notes and his spastic movements while playing his songs. He has so much passion behind his music and his fans are just as passionate about him.
Ron Pope rounded out this early evening show with a full band on stage, including a multi-instrumentalist who could play the banjo and slide guitar among other things. Pope opened up by complimenting the audience on how attractive they were. After all the shows I’ve been to in Boston, I think audiences here are getting more attractive lately according to the bands. I’ll take that as a compliment. Besides that, Pope had a great personality and kept the audience enthralled throughout his set, even while playing a lot of new songs.
The second to last song he played was in honor of Levon Helm, the drummer from The Band who passed away earlier that day. Leming and Ruben joined him on stage to play a powerful version of Helm’s song “The Weight.” The set could have ended there, but Pope decided to play one acoustic song by himself on stage before calling it a night…at an early 8:30pm. The Middle East packs in their shows and had another one on stage after this one, but all three acts stayed around to meet their fans and make new ones.
You can find out more about each act by checking out their websites below:
Jesse Ruben: http://jesseruben.com/jesseruben/
Josiah Leming: http://josiahleming.com/
Ron Pope: http://ronpopemusic.com
For more pictures, check out the WTBU gallery.
By: Deanna Archetto