Dan Croll @ The Sinclair

Dan Croll

September 11, 2017 @ The Sinclair

By: Jason Crouse

I don’t typically expect to learn life lessons when I attend concerts, but Dan Croll’s show at the Sinclair taught be a huge one: never go to a show when you have mono. Just don’t do it. You will almost pass out and die and it’s not worth it. Well, it may may be worth it to be able to see Dan Croll.

Jason Crouse // WRBB 104.9 FM

I rolled up to the venue 5 minutes before show time, passing Dan in the street on the way (I was a little shocked), and managed to snag a second row spot behind a couple that was way too handsy for my liking. Regardless, I had to be thankful for the spot I acquired since I was shooting and there was no photo pit. The openers, The Dig, stumbled onto the stage at 8pm sharp and started playing, but I wasn’t there for it at all. I’m sure all bands have a certain audience that appreciates their music, but this band was not for me. I found myself confused as to what genre I was supposed to be listening to, and half of the time I couldn’t even tell when a song ended, because it felt like the band had never taken a music theory course in their lives. You don’t have to know what a secondary dominant is, or why a 1-4-5-1 progression is the most boring thing to ever write, but I think it’s fair to expect a band to use more than two chords in a song and maybe throw in an authentic cadence of sorts to show that the song is actually over. Like, one time in your set. Just for fun. Their set concluded eventually and I was glad because I haven’t disliked an opener this much in quite a while.

This is the point where I almost passed out! I’m very thankful for The Sinclair’s water cooler for keeping me alive since I was surely dehydrated and also needed to get out of the crowd for a minute. If you have mono, don’t push yourself. Going to shows may be tempting when you really like the main act, but please just don’t do it. 2017 is the year of self-care.

After I survived my near death experience (likely provoked by the horror of the opener), Dan Croll popped up on stage and started singing tunes from his new album. Boy, does that man sing like an angel. I haven’t listened to his new album nearly as much as I should have, so I had a lot of chances to shoot and focus on photography, which was a treat for me. When Dan chose to bring back a few bops from his first album, however, I was overjoyed. I don’t remember when I first started listening to Dan Croll, but I remember hearing ‘From Nowhere’ on a Spotify playlist a few years ago and ended up listening to his album Sweet Disarray on repeat for a few months straight. This man, who somehow isn’t immensely famous, was able to create a beautifully crafted album that spans multiple musical styles and never has a dull moment, and that was impressive for me as an early music fan. I forgot about Dan for a while until I heard about his last Boston show at Paradise, and he was brought right back to the top of my Spotify playlists. His new album was on repeat for a day leading up to the show, and I plan on listening to it even more in the future because this guy has a lot of real talent. I was so ready for this show, and I was that one guy who sang along obnoxiously loud to every song (that I at least knew the words to). I managed to listen and absorb a few of my favorites like ‘Only Ghost’ and ‘Compliment Your Soul,’ though after half of his set, I decided to finally practice some real self-care and leave to go to bed. I hate that I had to miss out on half of his set after I was so excited to be there, but going to a show really isn’t worth dying from mono. It really isn’t. Unless Vampire Weekend came back from hiatus and suddenly went on tour again, but that might just be me.

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