Mark Rose Headline Tour with JT Woodruff – REVIEW

Here is our review of Mark Rose’s (of Spitalfield) recent headline tour with direct support from JT Woodruff (of Hawthorne Heights). You can check it out after the break.

Winter had finally hit the windy city, well to an extent, and that extent is the worst parts on winter had all happened. Hours before the show was scheduled to start I had to call Danny Rose (Mark’s brother) to confirm that the show was still going to happen because of all the rain that had frozen into icy death, also known as pavement. The show was still on track, so I guess I had to suck it up and brave the possibility of a painful and fiery death from a horrible car wreck due to the weather. Oddly enough my journey to Wrigleyville was, well lackluster and nothing had been hazardous in the least bit and I actually found parking right away, it was to say the least, weird. As I braved the icy sidewalks that had claimed many lives before I had graced its path, I made it to the Rockit Burger Bar. As I made my way up the vast staircase I had a slight fear in the back of my mind because I was about 3 minutes late and I didn’t want to awkwardly barge into the middle of a performance because let’s face it, we all hate that person. As I turned the corner into the venue I was hit with a sigh of relief because they were still setting up and Mark, JT and Bob were all just hanging around chit chatting. As I approached the trio Mark had told me that the opening band had canceled due to bad road conditions and that his brother, Danny Rose, and his backing guitarist Nate Baker would be performing.

Danny and Nate played about 30 minutes of cover songs and I’m usually not one for a cover band or in this case duo, but these two were much different. Nate’s guitar playing and skills were off the charts to the extent that during the entirety of Mark, JT and Bob’s set, they couldn’t stop praising and joking about how astonishing Nate’s musicianship and skill was. With blues inspired guitar riffs and soulful vocals of Superstitious and other classics, they had received much praise and many applause. It was a great way to open the show and keep the feel of close knit family throughout the musicians and the crowd.

The next act was more of an unorthodox approach where 3 songwriters: Mark, JT and Bob all sat in a line and each musician played a song then passed the spotlight down to their right for the next person to play a song. The rest of the night was filled with absolutely amazing performances and they were made with just a guitar and a voice, and sometimes by playing a bucket with a tootsie roll pop. The songs ranged from obscure covers such as Metallica’s Enter Sandman (which was beautifully done), to tales about JT’s great grandfather and throw back songs to one of the musician’s previous band(s). Not only did the entire set appeal musically to the small crowd sitting at tables and lounge chairs but there was comedy, stories from the road and their personal life and overall it was the most intimate show I had ever been a part of to date. There was food, drinks, laughter, cheering and the people who made the music that bonded us all in one way or another. I was immensely grateful and overjoyed that I braved another epic Chicago storm to be a part of something this wonderful.

Information about the review…
Tour: Mark Rose Headline Tour with JT Woodruff
Acts: Mark Rose (of Spitalfield) and JT Woodruff (of Hawthorne Heights)
Reviewer: Jim Vondruska
Date: January 27, 2013
Venue: Rockit Burger Bar in Chicago, IL