November
15th, 2002
The Metro
Chicago, IL
Review by: Colleen Plein
Okay, so I'd
waited *so* long to see an Ari Hest show - ever since I
discovered him in September, there were two Chicago shows but I couldn't go
to either - so I made sure to get to this one. Georgia Avenue and MER played
before Ari (and Llama afterwards), all really amazing bands. But here's the
lowdown on Ari:
I saw a friend of mine who is also a rep, and he said that Ari had been
hanging out in the crowd for the other two groups, but I hadn't seen him (and
was kicking myself about it). When Ari came out he was in a plain black
t-shirt and jeans...and he performed in just socks, no shoes. It was really
cute. His hair is a lot longer than in the promo shots - but it looks good.
He opened with "They're On To Me" solo, then other songs were with the his
drummer (really great) and some bassists from the other bands. He sounds so
great in person - I was just mad that my new CD I ordered from Awarestore
hadn't arrived yet so I could really know the new tracks ;-)
During the show me and my friends were screaming for him to play Terms and
Conditions, but he didn't...oh well.
Anyways, afterwards I hung out for a while, until my friends saw Ari in the
lobby. I of course went running - my goal for the night was to meet Ari,
take a picture with him,and give him a copy of my demo. He had changed after
his set, into a cool white turtleneck and brown leather jacket - very slick.
I was really shocked to see how incredibly tall he is - he's like 6'4''!
Like I said, those promo shots are deceiving. I finally got the guts in to
introduce myself...I told him we had corresponded via e-mail, and how much I
loved the show and his music. He was really warm and receptive, very
friendly, I was much impressed. I gave him my demo, and when he saw that he
seemed to remember me, and then he said that he'd listen to it - that they
always need new road music. Then he took a picture with me - put his arm
around me (his arm is so huge it wrapped all the way around me, it was quite
funny), and after the picture he shook my hand, thanked me again, and that
was it. So yeah, we met, and he's amazingly cool. The show rocked...and it
was only $5!!!
I'd go see him again in a second...too bad he's not coming back to Chicago
anytime soon. I'd love him to come play at NU where I go to school....we'll
see. Maybe someday - and then I can open for him! BTW if you want to hear
the music I gave Ari, visit www.mp3.com/colleenplein. Later guys!