Will Dailey - July 28, 2009

The second I opened the door to the Mercury Lounge this past Tuesday, I knew it would be an interesting time. Will Dailey, the singer/songwriter I've been getting heavily into lately, was scheduled to play an early show starting around 8pm and my friends and I were forced to scramble like crazed chickens to the venue following a string of unfortunate incidents. From the recent buzz I had been hearing about Dailey, I expected a large turnout and maybe a spot all the way in the back of the crowd by the time we got there. In a strange turn of luck, the first person we saw as we walked in was none other than Mr. Dailey himself chit-chatting with friends and concertgoers at the bar. While I was put off by this at first, my friend immediately recognized how awesome the camaraderie was. How often is the main act so hospitable?

Within perfect timing, we managed to get our $9 drinks, find seats against the wall, and watch Dailey's one hour set full of songs from his three albums, including the latest, "Torrent Vol. 1 & 2", released this past month and freshly reviewed in this week's Rolling Stone.

It was his night. The audience, that started with what looked like a dozen or so, quickly turned into a packed house at the little lounge and instantly got into Dailey's lovable folksy rock sound. While I was kind of thinking he looked a little like an overgrown Jonas brother, Dailey is actually gorgeous in person and more emotionally connected to his music than many people I've seen live that have been doing this for twice as long. Whether you're into the singer/songwriter style or not, Dailey proves in concert that excitement is infectious. His intensity, clearly written all over his face, echoes a young John Mayer while his movements hint at a little more rock in his soul than his songs suggest. Strength and determination are not usually adjectives I think of when describing a concert experience but they speak volumes in terms of Dailey. He's a terrific little performer in need of a much larger forum. I have a great deal of faith that this is one artist who won't stop until he's at the top.

My friend took a ton of great photographs as well so I'll be posting them eventually but in the meantime,check out this video I found from that evening: even far away you can sense the music running through this guy's veins. He is really impressive.