Nothing is better than seeing one of your favourite artists in a small, intimate venue – this was exactly the setting for Dave Hause’s show at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
Eddie’s Attic is a legendary coffee house style venue where artists such as John Mayer, Justin Bieber, and Collective Soul got their start. A small bar set above a Waffle House, the venue is set up with round tables so the audience can sit, relax, eat and drink while watching their favourite artists from just a few feet away. They pride themselves as a “listening room” where “live music matters.”
After walking on stage and sitting on his stool with just his guitar, Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Dave Hause made it a night to remember by performing a 1.5 hour set of 15 songs for a crowd of less than 100 people. It may have been a small crowd (the capacity of the venue is only 165) but fans travelled from all over the country for this “mellow Saturday night” as Hause called it. In fact, this was Hause’s first time in Georgia in five years.
It was a perfect night to watch him perform acoustic versions of songs off his recently released sixth solo album, Drive It Like It’s Stolen, as well as older songs such as ‘C’mon Kid’ and ‘The Ditch’. He even sang one from his old punk band The Loved Ones. Accompanying Hause was Mark Masefield on the keys and Hause’s own younger brother Tim on guitar. Tim Hause was even given the spotlight for a song, performing ‘High Hopes’ off his own solo album which was also released earlier this year.
Because of the intimacy of this show, Hause was able to spend more time personally interacting with the crowd than he would normally, joking around and asking questions to the members of the audience, making it feel more like we were all just watching our good friend up on stage. He would share stories and anecdotes about being a touring musician, as well as give background on songs in a way that made it feel like an episode of VH1 Storytellers. These are the best kinds of shows, where it feels like a private concert for the audience: everyone felt like VIPs. In the best way possible, the show was just as much story time as it was a concert.
The show concluded with ‘Damn Personal,’ a personal favourite off the new album. The emotion that Hause brought out of the crowd for this song was unbelievable, ending with the crowd singing along with Hause’s “whoa’s” without any instrumentation, immediately followed by Hause meeting everyone in attendance. Overall it was a calm, stress-free night where everyone left their worries and problems outside the door and sat back, relaxed and enjoyed a beautiful evening of songs and stories.
Listen to Dave Hause’s most recent album here, and be sure to check out our interview with his brother Tim from earlier this year right here.
