In a week of such of sadness and tragedy, Wednesday night’s show at Tipitina’s was nothing less than a triumph of the soul. What could have easily been a downer of a show due to the prior circumstances was far more amazing than I could have even imagined. I took one of those hail marry passes and decided to check out Joseph.
Joseph is an American folk band from Portland, Oregon, made up of three sisters: Natalie Closner Schepman and Allison and Meegan Closner. Their first album, Native Dreamer Kin, was self-released in early 2014, and their sophomore album, I'm Alone, No You're Not, was produced by Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis. It was released on August 26, 2016. The set was composed mostly of new material and songs from last year’s album, as well as three tracks from their debut album and two covers.
In that odd fashion of life imitating art, both covers were on point: Tears for Fears’s “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and the main set closer, “Moonlight Mile” by The Rolling Stones. The Tears cover came after a very brief statement on current affairs that could have easily become a preacher-on-the-mound moment; instead, the band kept it brief and sauntered into a minimalist folk rendition of “Everybody…”
Until this point, most of the crowd banter had been brief, talking about seeing Rebirth Jazz Band and how wonderful the city was. The most important piece of banter—that goes to the core of the city and our love of music—had to have been when they lamented on how great it was to open up their eyes on a stage in a city they’ve never been in and see people. It was modest and to-the-point.
After the family-style jam performance of “Moonlight Mile,” during which they invited opener Liza Anne back to the stage to help out, the band left the stage, only to emerge a few moments later and play two more songs to round out the night. In all, quite an amazing show. You can see more pictures here.
