Secondhand Serenade HOB Review

Sunday, April 22, 2009
By Aaron Keker

HOUSE OF BLUES, Chicago, Illinois – John Vesely from Secondhand Serenade is a very gifted musician, who writes emotional music that is both the joyful and painful side of romance.

Last evening, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was couples therapy for some individuals as they melodically listened to the secondhand serenade of John Vesely.

Who knows if John Vesely’s storytelling had rekindled the troubled couple’s passion for each other or if it ended with another marriage proposal tossed at John?

What I can attest to is that Secondhand Serenade definitely outperformed themselves with the House of Blues romantics than last year’s zero caffeinated audience at Mojoes Rock House in Tinley Park.

The House of Blues romantics had such vigorous enthusiasm as they sang alongside John Vesely as he melodically serenaded the audience on “Your Call,” “Like a Knife,” “Vulnerable,” “Broken” and platinum hit “Fall For You.”

Near the conclusion of the set list, it was decision time for the audience. Would John and Secondhand Serenade perform one of John’s favorites in “The Last Song Ever” or “Broken?”  John tried on numerous occasions to persuade the audience for his favorite, but to no avail as it was overruled by their voting enthusiasm.

John proceeded to wrap his fingers on his six string acoustic guitar and perform “Broken.” Sure John could have ignored the popular vote, like previous Presidential elections, but John is not a selfish individual. If he was, he would have stopped signing autographs and meeting with his fans after the show a long time ago, but he still meets with them to this day.

I wished that John would have performed “Your Call” acoustically because it would have kicked the evening off even better than playing electrically. I cannot really complain because JohnVesely did perform acoustically “Vulnerable” and “Broken.” John even surprised the audience with a cover song.

John Vesely performed the Coldplay cover of “Fix You,” which is from A Twist in My Story (Deluxe Edition).

One thing I was surprised about was John did not even discuss the release of Secondhand Serenade’s live album iTunes Live from SoHo, which was released earlier that day on iTunes.

John Vesely is an emotional storyteller and one must ask whether we are approaching a modern romantic era revolution? Only time will tell. Below is the set list from the House of Blues in Chicago.

House of Blues Set List:

1. “Your Call”
2. “Stay Close, Don’t Go”
3. “Like a Knife”
4. “Vulnerable”
5. “Why”
6. “Stranger”
7. “Fix You”
8. “Broken”
9. “Maybe”

Encore:

10. “Fall For You”
11. “Goodbye”