By Ryan J. Nims
Sometimes you go to a concert and make what I call “ephemeral friends.” People you talk to, hang out with in the crowd, and commiserate with. You may get their names, you may not. You probably won’t see them again, but for that one concert, those are your people!
Such was my experience with my ephemeral friends at the Pete Yorn musicforthemorningafter 25th anniversary solo performance at the historic Scoot Inn on Sunday, October 25. I have been a fan of Pete Yorn since he released musicforthemorningafter (Columbia Records, 2001) a quarter of a century ago. I was working at a CD Warehouse at the time, and as soon as I heard the debut album by this unknown artist, I was hooked. So to see him perform the songs and tell stories about the album was a real treat! Yorn played the entirety of the album— though not in the order of the tracklist. Instead, he described it like putting the CD on shuffle.
Briefly before the show started, I got to meet Pete Yorn and get my original 2001 vinyl signed. He commented on the shredded sleeve (a puppy got a corner of my milk crate of records nearly 20 years ago, and left some of my collection a bit worse for wear). One of the producers of musicforthemorningafter, R. Walt Vincent, also attended and I briefly met him as well. He seemed happy to be recognized!
Yorn opened the set with the song “Closet,” stating that up to the last minute, it was the first song on the tracklist. It wasn’t until he was in his car as the album was being mastered that he felt strongly that it didn’t fit in the first spot. He then played the CD’s hidden track, “A Girl Like You,” a song which had been written for a film. He didn’t feel like it quite fit the album, so they added it as a bonus track. Virtually every song he played came with a story: the first track, “Life on a Chain,” was a challenge to write a song with a specific chord in it. When he played it for the A&R person at Columbia, that song got him signed. “Sense” was one of his favorite songs, though he felt that it used the same chords as “Yellow” by Coldplay. He then played the first few bars of “Yellow” before launching into his song. “EZ” was one he refused to play live for a while. He said it was either because it hit too hard, or maybe he just didn’t want to play it. The whole show was full of similar anecdotes. He also played a couple of covers: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and “Dancing in the Dark” by his hometown hero Bruce Springsteen. He came back on stage for an encore, playing newer songs as well as a couple more cover songs.
The crowd was made up of people of all ages, many Gen-X, but also younger folks enjoying the music. Partway through the show, I met a guy near the merch booth who was not familiar with Pete Yorn (his friend bought him a ticket). He asked me about how I discovered Pete Yorn (the aforementioned CD Warehouse) and what I liked about the music (it was relatable to my 20-something sensibilities and has continued to be a favorite). I wasn’t sure if this guy was really enjoying the show, but he and his friend invited me to hang out with them in the crowd. Partway through the song “Black,” my new friend turned to me and said, “I get it now.” It’s a beautiful thing to watch someone really connect to the music. I don’t get to as many shows as I’d like, but it’s experiences like this with my ephemeral friends that make the live experience so much more powerful. At one point, a woman saw me holding my record and asked about the chewed corner. So I told her about the puppy, and she said it was great that I had a story to go with the record.
Overall, I had a great time at the show. It was my second time seeing Pete Yorn perform, but I hope to see him again! His music has been important to me for a quarter century, and it’s great that he’s been consistently making music that whole time!
Pete Yorn is recommended for fans of singer-songwriters and Americana musicians who like some pop sensibilities included in the music. I have played him a few times on The Golden Road (Tuesdays at 8:00 pm).