Thursday at Portland's Revolution Hall, we had the opportunity to check out Toad The Wet Sprocket with opening act Megan Slankard.
In the darkened setting of Revolution Hall, Slankard performed a soulful, intimate set. Between songs, she shared excerpts from the road as if talking to old friends in her living room. Her music is pure, but it was her sultry voice that really made the venue come alive; it has a fire hiding beneath the surface, and when she lets it go, it completely draws you in.
Toad the Wet Sprocket brought an eclectic mix of songs. The second song on the setlist was the hit "All I Want," and of course the whole place came unglued. Unashamed, several patrons stood up and started dancing in the aisles. That dancing continued well into the set. Midway through the set, the band played one of Glen Phillips' solo works, titled "Nobody's Gonna Get Hurt." Phillips' song is, in his own words, "a string of lies." In introducing it as such, he cracked a bit of a smile. In fact, throughout the evening, that charismatic smile would come out and just make everything alright.
Toad The Wet Sprocket went on to perform a total set of 21 songs closing with a three song encore and their 1991 song "Walk On The Ocean." Their current tour includes dates through the end of September.
