I'm Everywhere but Never Right Here

I've wanted to go to a show at The Hotel Café for several years, ever since I first caught Tweets from John Mayer a few hours late announcing that he would be playing a last-minute show at the club while he was working on "Continuum." I finally got my chance to attend a show at The Hotel Café this past Friday with Bryan Greenberg + as-yet-unnamed band's tour-closing show.

The club is really tiny, which is a total bonus considering the acts that play there. Sadly, it was also a major downside Friday thanks to the miserable crowd. As a native Southern Californian, I take exception when people talk about how lame and horrible LA crowds are, but in this case I have to agree. People talked and texted and Tweeted and Facebooked throughout the entire 90-minute set, and at least three glasses were broken, all of which sucked for me as an audience member, so I can only imagine how distracted and disappointing it was for the band.

As for the band, amazing! Sadly, I haven't been able to track down the names of the drummer, guitarist/bassist/harmonica player and guitarist/pianist/keyboard player that joined Greenberg on this tour, but they were flawless and energetic. Greenberg asked for band name suggestions on stage (something he's done on other stops this tour), so I'm hopeful that's a sign this foursome becomes a permanent thing because the guys worked so well together.

This was my third time seeing Greenberg, an actor/musician maybe still best known for "Prime" and "One Tree Hill," though "How to Make It in America" did catch quite a bit of buzz last year. My first show, back in 2008 at the Canal Room in New York City, was the most fun, with the majority-female audience there to have a good time and enjoy the musical stylings of Greenberg and his fellow guitar-toting singer-songwriters Graham Colton and Michael Tolcher. My second show at Largo at The Coronet in LA in 2009 was the best room, everyone in the tiny theater in rapt silence during the three acoustic sets (Curtis Peeples solo followed by Bryan Greenberg trio and Graham Colton solo). Friday's show was the best performance.

The show was billed as an album release party for "We Don't Have Forever," Greenberg's new indie release, but the set featured a nice balance of songs from that album and his debut, "Waiting for Now." I was excited to hear the songs I knew, especially the dreamy "Someday," which has become Greenberg's signature song after being featured in "October Road" and in various other places, and the completely wicked "Sorta Have a Girlfriend," a song I'd probably enjoy a great deal less if I was his girlfriend.

The new songs flowed well with the old songs. Greenberg definitely has a style, low-key, stripped-down, sincere, so every new song I heard just sounded like him. I bought "We Don't Have Forever" at the show and am liking what I'm hearing.

For now, Greenberg has put his guitar down. Filming on the second season of "How to Make It in America" begins next month, so it will probably be a while before he's playing live again. I do plan on catching his next tour, hopefully in a much-better room to a much-more deserving crowd than what we both got Friday.

Here's a video of Bryan Greenberg and band performing "Someday" Friday night. The video gives you a taste of how great he and his band are, and how crappy the audience was.