Monday night I went to see Kopecky at the Metro Gallery. They pointed out that it was their first time playing a proper show in Baltimore and although it’s my third time seeing them I guess it was my first time seeing them play a proper show. The first time I saw them was at the Firefly Music Festival and then I saw them play WTMD’s First Thursdays concert.

I love them a lot and they are so much fun live that I just assumed everyone else shared my same love. Thus I was surprised to see that they were playing the Metro Gallery, which is a pretty small venue and even then the show was not sold out. Too bad for everyone else who wasn’t there because it was a great show.

There were two opening acts. The first was Austin Manuel who I had never heard of before. He’s young and definitely has potential, but does have some growing to do. He was actually backed up by the keyboardist and bass player from Kopecky and used a drum machine app for some additional rhythm. I think if he gets himself a real band with some real drums it will do a lot for him.

The second opening act was Escondido. I had heard one or two of their songs prior to the show, but I hadn’t really ever looked into them much. I really liked them a lot. They were a lot of fun. They were joking with each other and the audience. Their music is great too. I’m definitely going to listen to some more of their stuff.

Kopecky was great as always. They are such a joyous band to see live. They have so much fun with each other and the audience. They’re great at getting the crowd into the music. Even with a small crowd they got the energy really high.

They’re touring with their second album right now, which means they have more to choose from in their sets. Sadly that meant that they didn’t play my favorite song “The Glow”, but they did play a nice mix of stuff from both of their albums. They have consistently played a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” at their live shows, but with more of their own music to choose from this time I was wondering if they would still do it. They did. I was happy because I love the song and I really like their take on it.

The concert only cost $10, which is the cheapest I’ve paid for a concert in I don’t even know when. Given there were three bands and the show wasn’t sold out I can’t imagine they made much if any money on this show via ticket sales so I decided to pick up the physical copies of their CDs at the merch table to throw some more money their way. The show was worth more than $10 to me and I figured that was the best way to support the bands and live music. And bonus because it was such a small venue they came out to the merch table and now I have a signed CD.

I look forward to the next time they’re back in Baltimore.