10 Reasons To Love Good Old War

When I saw Good Old War perform at the Soma sidestage earlier this summer, I was absolutely blown away. Okay, I also felt really old as the band jumped offstage and had the audience join them in a singalong, but mostly I felt that there was some great power to their music. When I read that music critic Bob Lefsetz had experienced the same thing in seeing the band in LA, I was shocked, mostly because he seems to hate just about everything.

When the opportunity came up again, and since I'd missed the band opening for Dr. Dog at the Belly Up, I had to see them again. This time was an all ages show at Porter's Pub, and though it was a show for students only, Josh Damigo opened and got me my in. Per usual, Josh opened the show with a great set, and it was my first time seeing him with his new full five-piece band, so I was super impressed. As it was, the show was sparsely attended, but those that were there acknowledged that they were seeing something special.

By the time Good Old War took the stage, the crowd was thicker and those that were of age were more lubricated from the awesome beer selection. The boys in Good Old War got the crowd moving quickly.




They didn't stay on stage for long, however, and like the Soma show, they jumped into the crowd to perform, only unlike last time when it was only for the encore, this show was played almost entirely among the crowd.


I captured most of it on video, and so here, I present to you, 10 reasons to love Good Old War. To see through all of the playlist, click the right or left arrows.


For what it's worth, I saw Good Old War again the next night, when they opened for Joshua Radin, but the House of Blues isn't the same place, and playing amongst the crowd wasn't an option. They were fantastic yet again, but it wasn't the same...the chatty crowd, the people trickling in who had no idea what they were even there for...I even interviewed Keith, the main vocalist of Good Old War, but instead of showing that, just enjoy this band for what they are and the show they give. And next time they come around, make sure you know all the words or you'll be cheating yourself of a really great show experience.