Photos | Robert Ellis + Ian O’Neil @ Great Scott

Photos by Boston Concert Photography

[S]unday nights lately have been quite good to us Bostonians, bands have come to our freezing town, warmed us up on nights that normally wouldn’t attract good crowds. Again, we were fortunate to have native Texan, Robert Ellis bring his new album and some friends into town for a night we won’t soon forget.

Ian O’Neil of Deer Tick opened the show, along Dennis Ryan, and sang a few songs from his side project Happiness, a few Deer Tick favorites, as well as a Neil Young cover in there. It’s an interesting and altogether different show than any of the other times I’ve seen Ian on stage. With Ian sitting on a stool quietly strumming away, it matched the intimacy of the small venue at Great Scott.

After O’Neil’s set, Robert Ellis, a man who opened on this stage last April for one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever seen with Shovels & Rope and Jonny Fritz, grabbed the spotlight. He warmed us all up with some of my favorites from his debut, and a whole lot of songs from his recent release, The Lights from the Chemical Plant. The new songs seemed to translate well to live audience, and standouts on the record hit even more so as the songs poured out of Ellis. Songs like, Good Intentions, Steady as a Rising Sun, Sing Along, Houston, and even the cover of Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years and not to mention an impromptu (maybe?) rendition of Hall & Oates’ classic Rich Girl. It was a fantastic night of great music, one we won’t soon forget.