For those not familiar, Cloudkicker is not a band but one person, Ben Sharp. He writes, performs and records everything himself and releases all of his albums independently through Bandcamp. Ben has gone on record in the past to say that he never intended on performing live. Well, something big changed that this year: he met Intronaut! They graciously offered to learn his songs and be his backup band for a tour and luckily for all of us, he took them up on that offer.
I was able to attend one of these performances, but before I tell you what I thought, I must mention that I had an absolutely horrible time getting to the show. I'm not a big fan of driving in Boston at all. Those damn one-way streets! I got lost as I usually do in Boston, but with traveling alone I struggled a bit more to navigate my way through the hellish roads than usual and got into my first ever fender bender with a cabbie. No one got hurt, but it was still incredibly disappointing for me. I was already running late and now this. Cloudkicker was the opener and the whole reason I was going to the show and now I'm going to miss it. Things got settled and my buddy who I was meeting up with told me they haven't hit the stage yet so there was still a glimmer of hope!
The next challenge was finding a parking spot which I quickly learned is nearly an impossible mission is Allston, the section of Boston where the club was located. After driving in circles for twenty minutes, I was forced to park a mile away and walk, which made the little bit of hope I had left disappear with every step I took. Finally, I arrived at the club. Expecting to have completely miss them, I entered just as the lights were dimmed. I made it in time! Hooray!
As soon as they started playing, all of my trouble went away. It was easily one of the best live performances I have ever seen and they absolutely stole the show. As awful of a time I had getting there, it was 100% worth it just for the chance to see this amazing group of musicians playing songs that were never meant to be played live.
As for the album (I know, I know, it's about damn time!), I had no idea this was even being released and turned into a giddy little school girl when I found out about it. There aren't any new songs on it, just a playlist of his strongest material that all translated perfectly in the live setting. I have lost count of how many times I have listened to this already and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon! If you haven't listened to Cloudkicker before, this album is a great place to start.
I should also mention Ben did release an album of new material this year, Little Histories. It's more of a rock album that, dare I say, sounds like it was written with the intention of being played live. One can hope anyway! Although I prefer the live album, this is still a great addition to his resume. He truly has a way with creating atmospheric tunes that transport you to a place I would much rather be.
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