Last Friday, January 17th, I shut down all insecurities and went to a show at Musica all by myself. Normally, I try to go with other people, but none of my friends were available so I had to do it alone.

That night’s musical acts included local musician, Daniel Rylander and The Allen Ilg Band with headliners, Neulore.

The Allen Ilg Band was the first to hit the stage. It’s a local rock band led by singer and guitarist, Allen Ilg. I couldn’t find  much information on them but they were pretty good. They got the crowd loosened up and prepped our ears for some good tunes.

My favorite act of the night came next. Daniel Rylander is a singer/songwriter from Akron, Ohio who released his debut album last September and it is nice. I’ve listened to it at least 5 times since Friday night. I even had it playing while I was at work and every person that came into the room commented on how good it was.

Rylander touches on a wide variety of genres from indie rock to country and blues. It’s hard not to find at least one song that you like. Plus his voice is amazing. It’s fresh, young, and a bit soulful. I’ll probably do a review of his album later this week. But while you’re waiting on that, you can listen/buy it here.

He has a great stage presence. I immediately picked him out from the group as the lead singer. Most times they are always the ones that have a little bit “more” than the rest. I’m not sure of what that “more” is but they have it and makes them stand out from the rest of their band.

I’m almost positive that a vast majority of the people there were for him because I noticed that the crowd thinned after his set. If that doesn’t tell you how popular someone is in an area then I don’t know what will.

Neulore was the final act of the night and they did not disappoint. They’re a modern folk band from Nashville, Tennessee. I had never heard of them before a few weeks ago, but when I listened to their album I knew I had to go see them live. It was great. They interacted with the audience and even got off stage to play their final song acoustic.

I really dig their Apples & Eve album. I’m not religious at all, but I liked the idea of telling the Adam & Eve story from Adam’s perspective. I pulled this quote from their Facebook page: “They are firmly rooted in the tradition of community, the pursuit of wisdom, and the telling of timeless stories from a fresh perspective.” They  did an amazing job at pulling it off. I can’t wait to hear more from them.

Neulore also took out the time to cover Lorde’s song “Team.” That was pretty cool to hear and their animated movements made it so much better.

Overall, it was a great show and I’m glad that I went. I could lead this into a comment about you can’t wait around for other people to be available before you live your life, but I’ll save that for another time.

Thanks for reading.