Nerd Thoughts

Sea shanty music is one of my favorite genres so when I had the opportunity to see The Longest Johns in person I knew I had to go. I know shanties aren’t most people’s cup of tea, which is a travesty, but they make for a great concert especially if it’s at a great venue. The combination of venue and sea shanties remedied the big issues with concerts. The first of course is being able to sit down! The Birchmere is amazing because you get to sit down eating from the full-service kitchen while listening to great music, what more could you want at a show. No being forced to stand up just to see the band, it was great. Another issue is when the audience also sings at concerts. For “normal” performances the audience singing along can sometimes ruin a show but you don’t have to worry about that at a sea shanty concert. Since shanties are meant to be sung by groups specifically groups that aren’t necessarily musically inclined, if you know what I mean, it just makes them better. I loved hearing hundreds of voices singing while feeling that thump from the bass in my chest. Shanties just make it easier for non-singers to harmonize so everything is better.

My only negative thought was that for one or two songs there were those moments where the music seemed louder than the singing so it was a tad hard to hear the words. Oh and technically, one of the band members couldn’t get their Visa in time, but considering this was my first time seeing the band I had no idea who the specific members were so that didn’t affect me. Any sadness I could have had at not seeing the complete group was erased by the fact that they had a stand-in from another shanty group I’ve heard of and Sean Dagher(Black Flag shanty guy). So, besides that, I loved every second of The Longest Johns Voyage tour and would give it a 9 out of 10.