Playing a venue that he called "amazing" and "the most beautiful and best on his tour this year," Joshua Radin, on Sunday night, did a solid hour-plus of songs from his self-coined "whisper rock" catalogue. And those who filled the lower level of The Pabst Theater loved and, even better, appreciated every minute of it.
What's "whisper rock?" It's the Cleveland-born singer-songwriter's easy explanation of his unique brand of music that's based on, well, whisper-like like vocals, solid songwriting and classic themes like love and loss.
After solid opening sets from Laura Jansen and Alexa Wilkinson (the other scheduled opener Vanessa Carlton didn't make the show for "unexplained reasons"), Radin delivered his hushed tunes with stories, smiles and a strong five-piece band.
Showcasing tracks from his upcoming Sept. 9 release "Simple Times," a recent EP and his first effort "We Were Here," Radin was comfortable, appreciative, enjoying the moment and loving the venue's acoustics that perfectly embraced his style.
The opener, "Today" set the tone for the set, as it's a relationship-based ballad similar in style to many of Radin's songs. He took it up a notch next by rocking out on "Lovely Tonight," before easing back into love-loss songs and talking up The Pabst Theater staff and green room, Milwaukee and the bar that he called "his favorite in the world," the Safe House.
Even his new songs were embraced, with "No Envy, No Fear" -- the last track on his upcoming record -- getting solid response.
But, even for Radin, a guy whose "hits" have, in part, come via exposure in "Scrubs," "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Last Kiss," it was these well-known tracks that the audience truly loved. "Closer" and "Winter" (before an acoustic encore of "Don't Think Twice") closed out his set and many walked away saying, "wow that was really good."
Some in the crowd were disappointed to hear that piano-playing pop rocker Vanessa Carlton was off the bill. Interestingly, she had another last-minute cancellation last month in California. Radin laughed it off, praising her replacement: his back-up singer Laura Jansen. Jansen's quick set of alternative and mildly indie rock was well received.
Alexa Wilkinson's eight-song set featured songs from her new album, "Lions" and her first effort, "Lullaby Appetite" (half of these songs, by the way, were produced and co-written by singer / songwriter Josh Kelley).
Wilkinson was fun, a bit flirty and easy going. Her tunes, including the current hit, "Vanilla Rain," filled the room well.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
