This Saturday, I went to the Ben Rector concert at the Uptown Theatre. For those who have never been to this venue, it is a very ornate theatre, with black textured ceilings, so when the concert is in full swing and there is smoke in the air, it looks like the night sky. The walls and balconies are bright blues and reds, with intricate design work and tall columns. His opener was a singer named Tyrone Wells, a soulful singer from Washington. Some of his better known songs are “Sea Breeze”, “Freedom” and “Where We Meet”. Personally, I thought he was great; really nice and down to earth. When Ben finally came on, he opened with his popular song “Ordinary Love.” The lights behind him and the band slowly got brighter, leaving them as just silhouettes. When the beat finally came, the lights turned on and throughout the concert correlated awesomely with the music. Ben was super entertaining and funny throughout the show, asking for a lot of audience participation. The place was packed, over 1600 people with general admission and limited floor space. The whole performance was really relaxed, with the keyboarder coming to sing a duet at one point and faking a saxophone solo. When Ben played his “last song” he let the audience know that it was on the set list for him to come back, but the audience member of his choice had to lead the chant for one more song. When the crowd erupted into shouts of “one more song,” he came back on to sing my personal favorite, “Sailboat” and took a picture with the crowd. This concert was totally worth the sweaty bodies all packed into a small room and the long line, and I would strongly suggest going if the opportunity comes!