Jessie Murph – Boston – March 4, 2023

Well, I went to another concert where I really had no idea what the hell was going on. Saturday, March 4, 2023, I took my daughter to the Paradise Rock Club in good ole Boston to see Jessie Murph. Had I ever heard of her before, or did I know any of her songs? NOPE!

So, what was this show like? Well, the night started out with some dude named “Charlie on a Friday” who sang some whiney, wussy songs. He had a “DJ” (aka – a dude with a Mac Book) to play all the music while he sang over prerecorded backup vocals while his DJ pal added some vocals too.

I thought he was super lame! However, while my daughter didn’t know him, clearly most of the girls did as they screamed their little heads off as soon as he came out and sang along with most songs. Not for me, but I’m also not a 14-year-old girl. NEXT!

Jessie Murph was the headliner, and this was a sold-out show. While I don’t know her stuff, what I did like is that she travels with a band. She’s got a dude playing keyboards, she has a drummer, and her brother is her touring guitarist. And seemingly, she has a pretty good set of pipes on her and a somewhat unique voice.

From the time she took the stage, the people there wouldn’t stop screaming and singing their hearts out. It seemed everyone but me and my wife knew every song except for the 2 or 3 unreleased tracks she played. In fact, because they all knew the songs, most of the night was listening to 1000 girls singing instead of Jessie herself. The crowd drowned her out for 90% of the show, which is annoying to me. If the crowd can’t shut up, then they need to crank that shit up! Whenever I go to a concert, I want to hear the band sing, not myself or the crowd. This is why I stopped going to see Motley Crue years ago – because there’s too much pre-recorded garbage being played, and Vince Neil is the king of not singing (here, let me hold the mic out and let the crowd do my job!).

But Jessie Murph is no Vince Neil. She’s young (18 I’m told), she’s petite and pretty, and she can actually sing. It’s not her fault that the crowd drowns out the PA system. But I just don’t get this generation. At one point, she asked the crowd “How many of you have contemplated suicide or battled with depression?” (or something close to that). Probably half the crowd or more shot their hands up and started cheering. What the…? To Jessie’s credit, her response was, “why are you cheering?”

The other thing I don’t get is the phones. Trust me when I say, I’m pretty addicted to my damn phone. But when I go to a concert, I prefer to watch the performance directly. But this generation seems to like to watch the show through the lens of their phone’s camera. They film the whole thing and watch it on the phone screen. I make a take a photo here and there, and a video here and there, but the whole show? NOPE! Put the phone down kids! Enjoy life. Some of the best concerts I ever went to were pre-smart phones. And now I’ll get off my soap box!

Anyway, I have no setlist to post because I didn’t know the songs. She played a Rhianna song and a Carrie Underwood song. Those I was somewhat familiar with, but I didn’t know any of her originals – even “the best one” according to my daughter. But this show wasn’t for me, it was for my daughter, and she loved it. So, I guess this Jessie girl is ok by me.