Baby's got a new friend

Between overnight hospital shifts and a string of evenings out that promises to continue through Friday, I've been keeping some odd hours lately. Luckily this schedule fits right in with weeknight concerts, so on Thursday I caught Kraig Johnson at the High Noon Saloon. I mean, Joseph Arthur! I saw Joseph Arthur at the High Noon, with his band the Lonely Astronauts.

I was tipped to the show last week by Uyen, who alerted me that Kraig was touring with Joseph Arthur, and they would be playing Madison. I am mostly unfamiliar with Joseph Arthur (I have one of his songs from a few years back, but that's it) - however, I'm a longtime fan of Kraig and his various bands, so that was impetus enough for me to check out a show in town.

Once again, I'm glad I did. The crowd was kind of sparse for a Thursday night, but I didn't mind the breathing room, and the Lonely Astronauts definitely know how to rock. I was somewhat surprised by that, though I shouldn't have been. But in my extremely limited Joseph Arthur knowledge I'd always had a vague notion of him as a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar kind of performer. One look at his Flying V and giant sunglasses altered my show expectations pretty quickly, though.

I can't give a very coherent review of the set, since I knew none of the songs beforehand. But I got the impression it was pretty heavy on songs from the band's most recent album, and they also played a few new songs that aren't on any album yet. "Sunrise Doll" was one of those, I believe. I really enjoyed the energy of the songs, and the band sounded great. Before the encore, Joseph did come out and play a few songs by himself. One was a crowd request for "Even Tho," which he claimed at first not to remember - but he did. One of the last songs the band played was actually a song of Kraig's, with Kraig taking the lead on vocals. It's on the setlist (I swiped Kraig's after the show) as "I Will Carry." Very pretty.

This marks the second time in the past month or two that I've really enjoyed a show I hadn't planned on seeing until a friend suggested it. Keep the recommendations coming, guys!