Ben Rector at Tally’s Dockside, White Bear Lake, MN (21 July 2016)
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Ben Rector
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Singer – songwriter Ben Rector stopped in town last week for a brief promotional appearance, in front of an overcrowded dockside audience braving a sweltering triple-digit heat index for a generous seven-song, forty-five minute set, that had many already making plans for his full show, in late October.
The Nashville-based artist is out in support of his sixth studio effort, Brand New (on Aptly Named Recordings) and prepping for his upcoming summer/fall tour, humbly dubbed The Biggest Tour I Have Done So Far Tour.
In blue-checked shirt, shorts, sandals, and an “OK” baseball hat (presumably for his native Oklahoma), Rector is more than well-known locally, always calling the area one of his best markets and among the first to play him on radio, and his local fan base has clearly grown further.
Rector moved between playing piano for the first half, including opener, ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ to acoustic guitar later in the set. The crowd of mostly younger people and happy –hour goers sang along to the chorus of ‘When a Heart Breaks’.
‘Forever Like That’, usually done on guitar, was performed on piano and dedicated to everyone in the back of the over-capacity crowd that he couldn’t see, (but could still hear) from his piano seat. As Rector finished the song, a marriage proposal took place near a dock behind the singer (and was accepted), causing the crowd to erupt in cheers.
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Ben Rector
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For ‘Loving You is Easy’, Rector flexed his improv skills and took crowd suggestions to create an impromptu third verse to the song, deciding to use proposals as the topic, based on what had just taken place. “When I saw this set up, I terrified that I’d be on top of people”, Rector said, surveying the small stage and people surrounding him on all sides, “but you guys have made this such a wonderful experience”.
‘Brand New’ had a few lyrics changed playfully to reflect the hot temperatures and the crowd was again recruited to sing a long on ‘Let the Good Times Roll’. After mentioning his affection for Minneapolis and his fans selling out an early-career show (he made his booking agent call the venue because he didn’t believe it), Rector ended his afternoon with ‘The Men That Drive Me Places’, a touching story song about taking pride in any vocation, no matter what kind of hand or situation, life has dealt.
Ben Rector returns to town at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on October 23rd, for a full and proper show at his biggest local venue to date, which will no doubt be filled with the fans that know him so well, and maybe some newcomers too, that consider him brand new to their listening habits.
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Ben Rector at Tally’s Dockside, White Bear Lake, MN (21 July 2016) |