The Brothers Osborne took a small detour to Pomona, CA on their way to country music festival Stagecoach. The difference between those two shows couldn’t be any bigger! The venue in Pomona is called The Glass House, a small club in suburban Los Angeles. Stagecoach is out in the desert and continues to get bigger and bigger every year. The first time I saw the BROS was at a festival in Las Vegas, so the local club was a welcomed change!
I won a meet and greet pass, and was lucky enough to have my wife join us. Normally the meet and greets are held backstage and pictures are taken with a professional camera, but not this night. No, the second surprise of the night (after winning the pass in the first place, of course) was that we were going to be meeting them on their bus, which was parked right outside the door. The guys were true gents, introducing themselves to us, and that was truly the theme of the night, up close and personal. And down to friggin’ Earth!
Adding to the “up close and personal” theme was that the club is small, on top of that there wasn’t a big turn out. Everyone was able to ease in front of the stage and relax for the whole set. The setlist was mixed with originals and covers, 15 tunes in total. One of the many interesting things about TJ’s voice is that he is able to cover Tom Petty (Runnin’ Down a Dream) and then switch over to a ZZ Top classic (La Grange), then slide into some Merle Haggard. With his genuine tone, he’s still able to keep these famous songs recognizable. And the best way I can describe John is that he makes his guitar TALK. He doesn’t just play the guitar, he uses his instrument to speak to the audience in a way I hardly ever see.
With such a small crowd, that felt more like a gathering, they stayed behind after the show to meet with everyone in the room. They were gracious enough to take more pictures with us and sign autographs.
I’ve now seen this band perform outside at a huge festival as well as a small room and they play as if there’s no difference. They way a band is supposed to play. That’s how you do it. So one day when they are a huge commercial success, you’ll know why…
Meet Country 