The cold night of January 29th was buzzing with excitement as I was walking into the Pensacola Civic Center ready for a night full of chilled out tunes that keep your feet tapping and a smile on your face. I’ve been listening to Josh Rouse’s music for a few years now, and this was my first opportunity to see him live, so I was more than thrilled to see him. Rouse came out a little before 8 and started the show off with the “It Looks Like Love”, off of his latest release Subtítulo. He followed up with the upbeat tune “Givin’ It Up”, definitely one of my favorite tracks from the latest record. To my surprise, these were the only two songs Josh played off of Subtítulo. Though I must say that I was happy that he mixed up his set well, with songs from Nashville and 1972 as well as three songs from his newly released EP She’s Spanish, I’m American in which he shares vocal duties with girlfriend Paz Suay.
Rouse followed up with “It’s The Nighttime” and “Winter In The Hamptons”, both from his Nashville record. “It’s The Nighttime” is probably my favorite track from Nashville, and definitely kept the crowd in good spirits with its upbeat flavor as well as throwing in a bit of that southern twang with the slide guitar. Rouse and his band didn’t miss a beat all night, and it was fun to watch the expressions of bassist James Haggerty as he moved about putting a little extra fun into the entire show. Keeping the mood light, Josh moved to the retro pop styling of “Comeback (Light Therapy)” which once again brought an even lighter mood to the evening.
One of the biggest highlights of the night for me was when we were able to get the treat of a few songs from Josh Rouse’s latest endeavor with girlfriend Paz Suay, She’s Spanish, I’m American. I must say that I absolutely love Paz’ voice, it is light but packs a punch. She does have a slight accent, which fits perfectly into the light, fun pop songs that she and Rouse have created on their self-titled EP. Keeping the tempo upbeat and light, the two opened with “Car Crash”, a perfect fit with its fun and energetic nature. “Answers” followed with a little more of a serious tone and slowed things down a hair before going in to “Jon Jon”, where Paz takes lead vocal duties and are able to see her wispy Spanish tinged vocals at their best.
Josh and the band then took us back to his 1972 record with “Rise”. The band took this wonderful laid-back pop gem and pumped it full of energy and passion. You could really feel the emotion the band put in to this song as they put all they had in to this song to add a little more oomph than the version on the record. They played their hearts out to the very last note and helped to put a little energy in to the crowd before closing with “Love Vibration”. Rouse prefaced the song trying to get a little crowd participation to shout back during the chorus. This song was definitely one of my favorites of the night, with all of its enthusiasm and overall fun personality. The crowd interaction added to the song and helped end the night on a very entertaining and energetic note. The band continued to jam on the song for a few minutes and ended a night that was more than I could’ve ever expected. Rouse’s perfect blend of light-hearted, playful pop-rock songs gave a warm and carefree feeling to a rather cold and breezy January night in Pensacola.
