Folk-rocker debuts new material at small show

November 2, 2009 by Jordan Healy 

Rocky Votolato plays intimate living room show in Las Vegas

It looked like any other house in any other suburban neighborhood surrounding Las Vegas, but this house was much different from every other house in the Valley last Wednesday night.

Cars stretched down the normally quiet block of the Henderson neighborhood, all bearing eager music fans showing up for a living room show of folk-rocker Rocky Votolato’s current west coast tour.

Unlike the typical party-like house show one might have expected, this concert felt like a family get-together. Roughly 60 people crammed themselves into a small living room, making small conversation and always staying respectful of the house’s owners.

Though Votolato was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., there was no sign of him when the hour struck. The owner of the house kept the crowd updated on his whereabouts until he showed up at the house at 8:30 p.m.

Votolato rolled up to the front of the house in a very unsuspecting four-door sedan and took no time in gathering his guitar and harmonica and walking right into the living room. The small crowd gave him a round of applause and he smiled a smile which only left his face in brief intervals for the rest of the evening.

He humbly apologized for his tardiness and without further ado picked up his guitar and began to play.

The voice that emitted from this man’s body sounded like pure gold. The audience, sitting cross-legged and surrounding Rocky’s corner of the room, were captivated as if they were all children sitting in a classroom eagerly listening to their teacher during story time. There was never a moment where Rocky didn’t command the audience’s undivided attention and there was never an instance where he didn’t deserve it.

Throughout the set, there was a low hum emitting from the crowd as they sang alone ever-so-quietly, so as not to overpower the main act. This was a die-hard crowd – there was a moment when Rocky asked how many of the people in attendance were at the Balcony Lights (R.I.P.) show five years ago and about a quarter of the concertgoers raised their hands.

A few songs into the set, Votolato took a moment to thank the owners of the house for agreeing to host his show. He then revealed that he would be playing some new songs from his upcoming record “True Devotion,” which will hit stores Feb. 23. This wasn’t only the first show where he revealed the new record’s release date, but also the first to see him perform his new material.

The new material seemed to draw even more from Votolato’s deep emotions than his prior material. During these new tracks, he appeared visibly more tense and on one track his voice soared to a volume that was simply jaw-dropping. His voice filled the room, the simple power of it alone bringing one heavily-pierced male on-looker in the front of the room to wipe away a tear in his eye.

A little more than an hour after he began, Votolato wrapped up his set with an emotional number that saw him showered in applause from the small crowd. This was, without a doubt, one of the best shows of the year up to this point. Rocky claims he will be back in town sometime in the middle of next year.

Do yourself a favor, don’t miss it.

ON THE WEB:
Rocky Votolato: rockyvotolato.com