Wow....he can play

So the concert was absolutely unreal. Sarah and I were in this music hall/bar thing called The Basement, and it was exactly that. It was a very small, packed in crowd because that's all that would fit. And since we were packed in, I was about 5 feet from Jon McLaughlin throughout the whole concert. Not only is his voice absolutely incredible and so chill to listen to but he is a phenomenal piano player. His energy level while he plays is unmatched. It was almost like he was running around the stage even though he had to stay in front of the keys. On top of that, his hands move faster than any keyboard/piano player I've ever seen before (check out this link to watch his hand... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlO78wuP9v0. Halfway into the second song, he had sweat dripping from his ears, chin, and nose. Not exactly the most appealing thing but somehow it added a lot to the performance. It looked like he was pouring everything (literally) into his music which made the concert that much more special. After about six songs the band left for a little bit and just left him sitting at his keyboard with his voice. The two songs he played like that were unbelievable. He was really able to show off how good his voice really is and it was sooo relaxing. Once the band came back out, they played a few more songs and finished the set with an absolutely ridiculous musical bridge. The two guitars and drums added in with the base and his keyboard sounded like something out of an orchestra. It was that good. Jon came back out for an encore, played a song on his own, took a picture of the crowd (which will be on his MySpace..and I'm in), and then played his big hit "Beautiful Disaster". It was the perfect way to end the show and the night. I'm so glad I got turned on to his music. He is by far my favorite artist right now and top 5 in my life. I plan on having his cd's playing over my iPod for a long time.

And seriously, go watch him play the piano. He reminds me of Schroeder off of "Charlie Brown" when he is leaning over his piano and standing up while he's still playing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlO78wuP9v0