FREEHOLD, NJ—On Dec. 8, I made my way to Central Jersey to attend an intimate, acoustic show featuring Anthony Green and Geoff Rickly.
Rickly started off the night with a passionate performance of Thursday’s “Time’s Arrow.” This was followed by a Springsteen cover mixed in with a few of his own songs. He told the crowd about how his loss of faith in record labels, after a previous experience in his former band, Thursday, lead him to make the decision to have his songs available for free on his website. He then threw in a very unusual cover of Usher’s “Climax.” This surprised the audience since he pulled it off so well. He ended the set with another Thursday song, “Turnpike Divides,” that moved the audience with every belted lyric.
While Anthony Green was setting up for his performance, his son, James, took over the stage. Running around with the microphone and letting audience member’s speak into it, the two-year-old stole the show. After James went to watch from the side with Rickly, the crowd made jokes with Green about how James should just come back and play the show instead of him. James must’ve heard this, because he somehow made his way back on stage during his father’s first song, “Stonehearted Man.”
After the excited toddler went backstage with his mother, the Circa Survive singer continued on with his arrangement of sincere performances. He played an equal range of songs from both his 2012 release, Beautiful Things, and older jams from his 2008 record, Avalon, such as “Dear Child (I’ve Been Trying To Reach You).” With no predetermined setlist, Green took some requests from the audience, most being Circa Survive songs. Rickly came back on stage to sing Circa’s “Act Appalled” with Green, and the crowd was extremely excited about this number. During every song he played, Green’s passion for the music shined through. He poured out his heart and soul with every word. As an encore, Green got the audience involved in singing “The Devil’s Song” by splitting the crowd in half to sing different parts. Although it was nothing but chaos at first, the duet between both sides turned out to be a beautiful success and satisfying end to a great night of music.
