Why John Vanderslice is admired above all others

1. Another amazing show on Tuesday at Modified, the second in almost exactly a year.

2. He brought people from crowd on stage to play bass and sing backup vocals. This is such a simple gesture that turns what could be another live show into a pretty sincere and genuine moment.

3. Time Travel is Lonely. Damn.

4. He asked someone in crowd to order pizza – extra large, cheese.

5. He talked about said pizza all night.

6. When pizza arrived, someone blurted out: “Hey. The pizza’s here!” Kinda like in Naked Gun, when that fan spots Frank Drebin and shouts, “Hey! It’s Enrico Palazzo!”

7. Domino’s delivery man, Al, arrived and handed pizza to JV on stage. JV then proceeded to collect more than $100 tip for the guy.

8. He brought the gorgeous St. Vincent back on stage to play bass. Bless him.

9. He encouraged recording, videotaping, YouTubing, etc.

10. He took everyone outside to finish the show by singing (with St. Vincent) Nikki Oh Nikki in the dirt parking lot adjacent to Modified. So cool. (UPDATE: YouTube video has been posted.)

11. He invited everyone back inside for a “dance party” – “We’re going to listen to Nas and Clipse.” Seriously.

12. When I chatted with him afterward, he said, “Thanks for caring.” Whaaaat? No musician says that. Is this guy for real?

13. New album due in July. (Information at Barsuk.)

14. He promised return trip.

15. Papa John’s arrived after show with two more pizzas.

7 thoughts on “Why John Vanderslice is admired above all others”

  1. I was at the Local 506 show on April 29th. Instead of pizza he had his mom at the show and brought her up on stage at one point. It was by far the best show I had seen at the club and the pairing with St. Vincent was wonderful. I hope they come back in the fall.

  2. Pingback: So Much Silence

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