Brothers and sisters, you have got to go see Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts.  Just trust me on this.

Am I hungover?  Sure.  Did I stay out until 4am last night for the first time on a school night in months?  Yes.  Am I so full of hungover emotion (and sausage egg and cheese bagel) that I shouldn’t be dispensing any advice about anything to anyone?  Yep.  But am I going back to Southpaw after work with my best shovel to pick up my brains from the floor after last night’s show?  You know it.

So yeah, the show was fucking fantastic.  But I guess I should start with the new album before getting into the show. 

What I like about Joseph Arthur’s music is how versatile and dynamic it is.  In simplest terms, I like his fast songs, I like his slow songs, I like his medium songs.

In my opinion, on no other album does Joseph displays the full extent of his versatility than on Let’s Just Be.  "Diamond Ring," the first song on the album and the one I mentioned yesterday, is a vintage rock n roll single, with a catchy chorus that’s been in my head all week (and which has infected a number of my friends, just by hearing me sing, "I said you/You could be my diamond ring" in my best scratchy falsetto).  I have adopted "Spaceman," which I first heard last time I saw him and made me pee and little bit, as my new anthem.  When I hear this song, I want to get high, I want to swim in a pool, I want to get out of the pool in slow motion, and then I want to jump off a mountain. (Author’s Note: Please do not try this at home.)  "Cocaine Feet" and "Good Life" make me want to have angry sex with a woman who works in the sex industry, while "I Will Carry You" makes me want to make sad love to an ex-girlfriend (really, any will do – I’m pretty lonely right now).  And there’s a lot more here, but I’m still working my way through the album. 

But what’s most appealing about it, if one listens to it top to bottom, is that it’s very…genuine (settling on that word over "real," "stripped," "informal," or "ephemeral").  This album sounds like it was recorded over a long weekend in the remote woods in a big house filled with best friends and a ton of booze and drugs, doing one take per song.  This may sound like a knock, but it’s actually a compliment because it implies that some sort of magic (admittedly possibly devil magic) was captured in this recording (as a matter of fact, you can hear Joseph’s voice say, "That was pure magic, man" at the end of "I Will Carry You").  And I totally fucking dig it. 

Last night’s show was tremendous.  What’s interesting is that I think that on the whole, Let’s Just Be is more rocking than his previous album Nuclear Daydream, but the show I saw in support of Daydream was more rocking.  The show last night had its balls out moments (the aforementioned "Cocaine Feet" and "Good Life" were so rocking I had to keep one hand on my testicles, lest the fall off due to overrocking), but what was most memorable to me was in the middle of the show, when Joseph came out with only his guitar and did some songs.

My all-time favorite of his songs is "Echo Park," which I will have Joseph play at my wedding (provided he works on draft beer and blowjobs from my wife’s bridesmaids, since I am sure she will be a woman of loose morals and, well, birds of a feather), but he didn’t play that one.  I was not disappointed however; he started with "A Smile That Explodes," which was so touching that by the end, my buddy Jeremy and I were hugging each other.

But the magic moment of the night came when Joseph sang "Honey and the Moon," just him and his guitar.  Everything stopped when he performed this song.  I’m being most literal here; not only was no one making a sound while he sang, but everyone was completely still, completely transfixed.  Even the bartenders, who must see five shows a week, stopped cleaning and talking and stood motionless, watching Joseph.  Out of the 200 people there, I don’t believe a single muscle was flinched for five minutes – it felt as though our breathing fell in sync while he played.  Total quiet, total concentration.  It was beautiful.  It felt unreal.  This sounds silly (especially if you’re not high), but listening to him play that song reminded me why I love music.  I listen to my iPod seven hours a day, have 12,000 songs on my computer, and consider myself a music fan of the highest order, but when Joseph played that song, I thought, "Oh…that’s right.  This is how it’s supposed to be."  I spent $15 expected to be rocked senseless; I walked away wanting to think and wanting to hug someone.  Which I did.  Jeremy again.  Maybe I should try to meet some girls.  Whatever.       

When the song was over, even Joseph seemed surprised, saying, "Wow – thanks so much for the quiet.  That was awesome."  But then the band came back, and shortly the place was rocking again ("The needle says she’ll tell you when she’s through," from "Too Much To Hide," has got to be one of my favorite opening lines in a song).  The show ended with "I Will Carry You" (mentioned above) and then the trippy "Star Song" (which was ok with me, because I need to ease out of the show after such an emotional roller coaster).   

After the show, I couldn’t go home.  I plied my buddy Jeremy with free beers to stay out with me and he and I got so shitcanned that I honestly think he may be dead right now.  He’s not answering his phone, text messages, or email.  (God, I hope he’s not really dead. I would feel pretty bad about that.)

But brothers, sisters, I cannot recommend this show strongly enough.  I know a lot of you took my advice after I saw him last time, but I wanted to share this different but equally awesome experience.  You can listen to many of his songs on the radio that pops up when you visit his website, and check the tour dates here. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to putting my head on my desk and thinking about hugging.  And if you hear from Jeremy, let me know.  I’m getting a little concerned.