Adam Arcuragi @ Cicero’s } 07.25.11

Death Gospel. The phrase definitely catches your attention and when I learned that Adam Arcuragi was the accredited founder of the musical genre, his show at Cicero’s became much more intriguing.

Possibly due to the constrained environment that is the NPR Tiny Desk concert, I was surprised by the energy of Arcuragi as he swung his acoustic guitar and moved around the stage, or at least the few feet of floor that weren’t already taken up by his 5-piece backing band, The Lupine Chorale Society. I’ve just now listened to his 2009 release I Am Become Joy, but it’s quietly become one of my most-played albums this summer. I still can’t really tell you what the heck death gospel is, but I can tell you that Arcuragi is a definite treat worth checking out.

The Good: The grandma (I’m assuming) that came to watch her son play in one of the opening bands. Adam leaping in the air during one rowdy buildup.

The Bad: Much later start time than advertised (pushed back an hour-ish?), meant that I had to duck out of the set earlier than I would have liked. Adam’s backing band circled around a mic to sing during the first set and I completely had a brain fart and didn’t get a picture of it.

The Irrelevant: Tried Southern Tier Brewing’s oak aged Unearthly Imperial IPA. Usually not an IPA guy, but I really dug it.

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