The 10 Best Concerts of 2015: Kopecky + Geoff Koch // Off Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri

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Photo by Jason Gonulsen

Each year since 2013, we've held a special concert to celebrate another year of Speakers in Code. And in 2015, we were so excited to welcome Kopecky and Geoff Koch to Off Broadway.

Kopecky released Drug For The Modern Age in May, and they played most of the album -- they opened the show with "My Love," my favorite track. But they also took time for a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk," and older songs like "Change" and "Hope." Kopecky are one of my favorite live bands, and the show at Off Broadway only made me more of a believer.

Geoff Koch, who now lives in Nashville, but is a St. Louis native, opened the show with songs like "Say You Will" and "Pro-War." He absolutely nailed Wilco's "She's A Jar." And he closed his engaging set with his best song, "The Storm."

Once again, we would like to thank Kopecky and Geoff Koch for celebrating with us.

The 10 Best Concerts of 2015:

Paul McCartney // Lollapalooza, Chicago, Illinois
Neil Young + Promise of the Real // Summerfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Houndmouth // Forecastle Festival, Louisville, Kentucky
Matthew Ryan // Living Room Concert, St. Louis, Missouri
Taylor Swift // Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Fleetwood Mac // Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Kopecky + Geoff Koch // Off Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri

Celebrating 5 Years, and the Future of Speakers in Code

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Two years ago, I met Kelsey Kopecky and Gabe Simon at Off Broadway in St. Louis. Their band, then named Kopecky Family Band (now simply "Kopecky"), had just finished their set promoting their latest album, Kids Raising Kids, and since they were in a great mood, I talked to them about maybe playing the Speakers in Code Anniversary Concert down the road -- when it made sense in their touring schedule.

Tonight, it all happens at Off Broadway where Kopecky (from Nashville) and Geoff Koch (originally from St. Louis, now living in Nashville) will help celebrate 5 years of Speakers in Code.

Tickets are only $12 at the door. It all starts at 8PM (more details are here).

I also want to take the time to thank everyone who has already bought tickets to tonight's show. Before I started Speakers in Code with Katie Guymon in 2010, I never thought of doing anything like this, but then again, I could have never predicted many events that have transpired over the last five years. From interviews, to shooting shows, to meeting great music people in St. Louis and beyond, the whole experience has completely changed my life.

As for the future, I see no reason to slow down. I've been battling an ear condition that will be putting me out again for a few weeks, but aside from that, I'm excited about the months and years to come.

And I'm excited for tonight. As Kopecky would say, "...the glow is coming."

Speakers in Code 5th Anniversary Concert with Kopecky + Geoffrey Louis Koch at Off Broadway // Saturday, April 18 // 8PM

Interview | Geoffrey Louis Koch: "Learning how to accept the fact that my music may never have broad appeal is one of the most difficult challenges I face."

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As the end draws in there's a calm inner peace
in the next life will you wait for me?
I often wonder what I'd say if I saw you again
because sometimes the one you love dies
before forever ends

Satellites. Geoffrey Louis Koch mentioned them in "Pro-War" -- a song that I immediately loved when I heard it in 2009. And he mentioned them again in our interview that you can read below. This time he's talking about his latest record, Follow the Voices, which includes the "The Storm." Let's have a listen to that now.



We're thrilled to have Geoff open our 5th Anniversary Concert with Kopecky at Off Broadway on Saturday, April 18th ($10-12 tickets here). We recently caught up with him over email.

First up, you're living in Nashville these days. What do you miss about St. Louis?

I miss being able to get Cardinal baseball whenever I want. I definitely took for granted how valuable it is to turn on a game or listen to Mike Shannon call it whenever you want. Going to a local bar for lousy beer and darts with friends while the Cardinal game is on in the background - damn I miss that. And I miss some things I never really did but would love to do now - like run around Forest Park or go to the new restaurant.

Tell us a little about your most recent record, Follow the Voices. What was the recording process like?

Follow The Voices I sort of short-handedly describe as 'acoustic indie folk meets the symphony orchestra'. Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago and Gregory Alan Isakov's This Empty Northern Hemisphere were two of the main templates for the mood I was trying to set. I recorded it in St. Louis with Ross Christopher. I came home for a long weekend family visit and I had an extra day to play with and a handful of songs so the idea to record with him literally fell out of the sky while I was in town. I called him up and went to his house a couple days later. We cranked out almost everything I did in one 12-hour recording session. Over the next several months Ross would sit with the songs and add instrumentation one piece at a time. It's really kind of how The Postal Service recorded their record, in a way, in the sense that he'd email me mixes and options of what he came up with and we'd take it a step at a time like that. Amazingly, some of those songs have 40+ tracks on them, Ross really put in the time and effort.

I also wanted to provide high-quality album art that told the story. I distinctly remember putting on REM's Automatic For The People and Nirvana's In Utero and pouring over the liner notes, album art and pictures. Memories like that left a huge impression, and certainly added value to the records for me. So while Ross was adding to the songs and mixing them I was busy making visual decisions on how the cd art would read. And it's funny because I've always wanted to avoid 'the singer in a field with his guitar' vibe because EVERYBODY has done that but wouldn't you know it, that's what we ended up with haha. Me in the field isn't so much the story as it is about a character who is on a path to madness because he is hearing messages or 'voices' coming out of these gigantic radio towers in the distance, compelled to hear them more clearly. Culminates with the photo of him finally reaching his destination (the cd art). So in that way then, the music on the cd in the listeners hand is the 'message' or what the strange silent radio towers have been whispering. You follow? I've always thought satellite dishes and radio towers were extremely romantic. They're so incredibly alone, and quiet. Yet they're made of steel, and the signals they use are mysterious and invisible. I've always wondered what they're communicating about, and if they know I'm watching them. I've probably also just given you plenty of Freudian insight as to the many ways I can see myself, sometimes. Har har.

So, "The Storm" is a finalist in the "Lyrics Only" portion of the International Songwriting competition. How did that come about, and what is the next step?

The International Songwriting Competition has been on my radar as a songwriter for a few years. Sometimes I think I should scour the internet for more 'competition'-type contests because the exposure, recognition, and resume-building that comes with that kind of promotion is good. But I think I'm not alone in that I also struggle with the idea that a very specific group of judges deciding whose song is a 'winner' or not can be hard to swallow. Contests for the sake of feedback and maybe getting a little clout is nice. Through these experiences I'm reminded that ultimately I'm the one who has to know what I've made is my best effort, and let that be enough regardless if it ever gets heard. Learning how to accept the fact that my music may never have broad appeal is one of the most difficult challenges I face. It can be a gut-carver if you're not careful with your thoughts.

So 'The Storm' has made it as a Finalist in the Lyrics portion of that contest. I'm incredibly proud, and thrilled about that. It's one of 17 Lyric finalists, and there were over 18,000 total submissions in all categories. Unreal, right?! So now what's next is I wait till the end of April when they announce the winners. All the Finalists are judged by a lot of celebrity judges and higher-ups in the music business. The list of judges is on their website but I think it's pretty cool my song might have landed on Sarah McLachlan's or Jason Isbell's desk. What a treat!

My favorite song of yours is still "Pro-War." Tell me about that one. What was going on in your life while you wrote that?

I was living in an apartment in Valley Park by 141/Big Bend when I wrote 'Pro-War'. I was going through a 'politically pissed off' time in my life and just tortured by the hypocrisy and pageantry of Washington, DC. The song started on the piano and something told me to have the guts to write it from a villain's point of view, much like a Vincent Price character from 50's horror movies. He's the guy who you think is the protagonist, he earns your trust and the story progresses. Then there's a twist at the end and he turns out to be the bad guy and you feel duped as hell. That's what makes up Washington, and a good horror flick. Depending on my mood I can perform that song (as the wolf in sheep's clothing) towards any number of political phonies on my mind. Sometimes I get to either sing is as the person who's gotten revenge on a terrible politician, or, I can sing it as someone saying 'I told you so' to people I know who are suffering because their political god turned out to be a turd on rye and there's nothing else to eat.

Finally, thank you for playing our 5th Anniversary show with Kopecky. What can we expect?

I am so glad to be playing your 5th Anniversary Show, really thrilled! You can expect me to be in a great mood. Who doesn't love Off Broadway? The sound is amazing and it always feels like home when I play there. It's highly likely I'll be joined by Ross Christopher on violin that night and we'll crank out a mix of older songs and all of the new record. You can also expect some surprises, perhaps a cover song or two curated just for this big event.

Speakers in Code 5th Anniversary Concert with Kopecky + Geoffrey Louis Koch at Off Broadway // Saturday, April 18 // 8PM

Interview | Gregory Alan Isakov: "If it weren't for ninth chances, I think I'd be alone."

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Photo by Erin Preston

Gregory Alan Isakov will release his third album, The Weatherman, on Tuesday, July 9th, which also marks his return to St. Louis at The Old Rock House ($12-15, 7 PM). Geoff Koch (from St. Louis, now via Nashville), another fine songwriter, will open the show.

Let's have a listen to Isakov's "Saint Valentine" from The Weatherman.



We recently caught up with Isakov over email.

It's been a bit since your last album. How has life treated you, and how did this batch of songs come about?

It has been a while. Life has been good, a lot of touring and writing pieces of songs on the road. This past year I held up in a cabin in Nederland, Colorado and wrote The Weatherman. I had been working on another record before that, and a lot of new songs started happening at once, so I set the first recording aside and went with the new ones.

"If it weren't for second chances, we'd all be alone." I love that line on the new record. Tell me what was going on in your life when you wrote that. How do you relate to that lyric?

I wrote that with my brother, Ilan. We write a lot together when we can. We wrote a song together called "Words" on This Empty Northern Hemisphere.  I think that song came about really fast. I think at first we just had that line, and some of the bridge. but the verses came fast too. That line seems like a universal truth in all of our lives. If it weren't for ninth chances, I think I'd be alone.

You're coming to St. Louis on the day your album is officially released. Any big plans to celebrate? Do you remember anything special about your previous shows in St. Louis?

We always love playing in St. Louis. There is this genuinely excited music scene there that you don't find in every town.

What's the music scene like in Colorado these days?

Denver has one of the most diverse music scenes in the country. There is a great community of  musicians here. A lot of bands have some of the same members so it always has a familiar and creative vibe.

Finally, finish this sentence: The Weatherman was a joy to record because...

...it was the most effortless recording I've made. A lot of the record was done live in a studio up in the mountains. There was a sense of calm and quiet making it in seclusion.

Gregory Alan Isakov with Geoff Koch. Tuesday, July 9th at The Old Rock House in St. Louis. Doors at 7 PM. $12-15.

The Best Local Music Moments of 2010

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Our last feature in our Best of 2010 series is a tribute to Saint Louis local music, photographers, venues, festivals, and everything in between. Who better to celebrate the fantastic local talent our city boasts than the musicians themselves? That's why we asked Sleepy Kitty, Andy Berkhout, US English, Cassie Morgan & The Lonely Pine, So Much Closer, Geoff Koch, and The Blind Eyes to talk to us about their favorite (mostly) musical moments of the year.

Evan Sult and Paige Brubeck of Sleepy Kitty
This has been a rich, and strange, year of music. Sleepy Kitty's favorite release of 2010 might actually be one that was recorded in 2002: Fantasy Four's Getting Fantastic with... on Pancake Productions. We're only sorry we missed those harmonies and tight, funny songs when they were available to be seen live. The other big news for us is Daniel Blunt's "Only You," released this month, just barely in time to qualify. The songs' contents may or may not apply to you, but the melodies, and producer Gabe Doiron's ace arrangements, will get so stuck in your head if you give the album half a chance. Both of those are great albums that happen to come from Saint Louis, though we'll stack 'em against all comers.

Paige's out-of-town favorites include The Strange Boys' Be Brave, The Like's Release Me, Karen Elson's The Ghost Who Walks, and The Lake's recent EP compendium, the name of which escapes me. For me, I got great musical pleasure out of the book Life, less for the dish on Mick Jagger and more for his writing voice and his overall piratical love of music and trouble-making.

Also, it's impossible not to mention the time-traveling pleasures of the Pavement reunion tour; we got to see them once in Chicago and once in Atlanta, and they did their songs proud. And, those are some of the best songs we've ever heard. This was also LouFest's inaugural year, and we had a very good time that whole weekend. For shows, I feel I can say with confidence that The Blind Eyes' rendition of Fleetwood Mac at The Firebird's An Undercover Weekend was unforgettable. But quite possibly the most amazing show of the year was performed by a teen werewolf, Dracula, and the bride of Frankenstein; that would be Wormwood Scrubs' legendary Halloween show at El Leñador. In fact, Stag Nite at El Leñador became the big surprise venue of the year. Thank you, Johnny Vegas. As for national musical moments, all those Kanyes and Taylors will frankly have to take a number behind the auto-tuned Double Rainbow song. And finally, the biggest and best trend in the Saint Louis music scene, in our opinion, was the wave of clubs that went non-smoking this year. A year from now, no one will be sorry. Onward to 2011!

Photo credit: Robbie Wiedie

Andy Berkhout 
I'll be the first to admit that I find "Best of" lists to be a bit intimidating. I can probably trace my first experience with one back to when my first grade class held a contest to see which student was "the best" at tying shoes and could complete the seemingly impossible task in the shortest amount of time. There was so much pressure. What was I going to do? What would my classmates think of me? Would I ever make it to the second grade? I was too nervous to even say anything.

One by one, each student took his or her turn until all eyes were on me. I tried to smile and looked down at my feet. The gazes of everyone else followed. I was wearing velcro shoes.

I learned an important lesson about "Best of" lists that day. They can never completely account for all of the experiences or items that they're trying to sum up. This lesson is still true as I try to think of my favorite music from 2010. I am only one person with my own musical tastes and experiences. I don't claim to be able to provide you with any kind of definitive list. But I can tell you about a few albums that stand out in my mind as honest representations of musicians putting their best selves forward to create something truly special. Without further ado, here is that list: three albums from 2010 that mean something.

1 Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine - Weathered Hands, Weary Eyes 
Cassie Morgan and bandmate Beth Bombara create a beautiful landscape of acoustic melodies and hushed harmonies. Sit back, relax, and embrace the warmth that only analog tape can bring.

Tracks to Spend Some Extra Time On: "No More Tears," "Peasant Song"

2 Conrad Plymouth - Conrad Plymouth 
Conrad Plymouth call their sound "Midwestercana," and I can think of no better way to describe it. This four-song EP showcases an array of reverb-laden guitars, ethereal keys and percussion, and some incredible storyelling. It ends just as you start to settle in and will leave you waiting for a full-length.

Tracks to Spend Some Extra Time On: "Captain Video," "Fergus Falls"

3 Beth Bombara - Wish I Were You 
From the opening chimes of a steel guitar to a trombone part that takes me to a street corner in the French Quarter, this album demonstrates Bombara's unique ability to craft little pieces of indie rock bliss. Your head will nod and your foot will tap; don't fight it.

Tracks to Spend Some Extra Time On: "Rainbow," "Abandon Ship"

James McAnally of US English
2010 felt transitional, both in local and national music. I am expecting an exciting year in 2011 because so many new platforms are opening up as musicians learn to move forward in the post-torrent environment. Live music fared particularly well in Saint Louis with venues and event planners making things happen. In Saint Louis, events like Black Friday and Financial Aid put on by friends of ours who run Lane 4 (Ryan Powell, Kaveh Razani, Stan Chisolm) set the stage for more innovative live experiences bringing more diverse elements together. The Secret Sound Festival on Cherokee had a similar impact, laying the groundwork for what should be an influential yearly event. I'm also really excited by the underground music emerging locally, as well in venues like Floating Laboratories, which feels ready to be brought to a national audience.

Obviously, we are really excited to be a part of Post Literate, a new art and music label loosely based in St. Louis. It is releasing art and music side-by-side, emphasizing projects that are not easily classified.

On a broader level, I'm excited to see the influence of artists such as James Blake and Gold Panda, who seem to be making electronic music more emotional after a period of party/beach/lo-fi anthems. Hopefully, we fit in that realm somewhere, trying to use digital elements to make something relevant and human. Maybe we are just excited about 2011 because we are wrapping up our next EP, Used Future, which will come out in February. Consider this an early toast.

Cassie Morgan of Cassie Morgan & The Lonely Pine
In terms of favorite shows or music events in Saint Louis in the past year (there were a lot of great ones), these are just few that really stuck with me. Saint Louis concert goers were already sold on the Deer Tick show experience, but the band truly won my heart when they came through in August and donated a portion of the proceeds from the sold-out show to a memorial fund for Dave Hagerty, a well-loved Saint Louis musician who had recently passed away. It was a generous gesture, and one that showed extraordinary respect. Plus, Deer Tick gave the crowd yet another blast of a show.

The excitement surrounding events like An Undercover Weekend and the RFT Music Showcase was exhilarating. Saint Louis musicians really delivered at both events, and it made me proud to be a part of this music community. Other stand-out show experiences from 2010 include seeing Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs at The Firebird, being completely enchanted by Jonsi at The Pageant, and singing along with the sweaty Mumford and Sons crowd after the distinct honor of opening for them at Off Broadway. Time and again, I stood in awe at the quality of musicianship from both local and national acts. 2010 was, indeed, a good year for music.

So Much Closer

2010 has been an amazing year for So Much Closer. It was our first full year as a band, and the Saint Louis music scene blew up. Here is a quick recap of some of our favorite things from the past year. Collectively we thought PLAY:stl was the coolest local event, but the Secret Sound Festival also received high marks, as did Live on the Levee. 

As for our favorite venue, we had to go with The Old Rock House. We kicked off our spring tour there and had our CD release party there. Playing a venue with amazing sound, great stage, and an awesome staff makes us feel like rockstars! We were also able to agree that Corey Woodruff is doing great things for the local scene, making all of us look fantastic with his photography. For our favorite recording studio, we went with the Echo Lab in Denton, TX. It is an amazing space (a converted barn) with great engineers and producers, plus two of the owners have roots in Saint Louis. They transplanted there after attending the University of North Texas. Locally, we had to give it up to R&R Music Labs. They are doing great things for our scene with the STL LOUD project. 

Our first split came with radio station, half of the band is on the KDHX fan bus, and the other half ardently support Lindenwood’s station, The Wood, 89.1. When we got to album of the year, there was complete dissention. Logan was too drunk at this point to really contribute. He kept mumbling something about Rhum Boogie, but their album is not out yet, so we are unclear as to his intent. Swan chose Sufjan Stevens’ Age of Adz, Enright voted for Patterns in Movement, and Ketzer gave the nod to Spoon’s Transference. There were also some great music put out by local bands this year. It was impossible to pick a favorite local LP because they were all so good, but we had to give props to the May Day Orchestra because they did something that no one else did. They wrote a fuckin’ folk opera. Ota Benga must be respected. 

Social media as a whole was amazing in 2010. Twitter, Facebook, and blogs changed everything about how bands interact with fans, so feel free to follow us on Twitter or fan us on Facebook. Hope you all had an amazing 2010.

Geoff Koch

Most of my personal highlights in 2010 happened off-stage, as I continue to develop the next songs and record. It can be a tremendous exercise in patience and faith that what you're doing is right as a musician. It's a hard test to step out of the lights for awhile. You wonder if people will be there when you come back. The only thing I know I can control is how good my next songs are. To a lesser extent I can control how they'll sound with a full band on a record, and even after that there is no certainty anyone will like what I've come up with. So, I think what I valued the most this year was feeling the reassurance from myself that I am an artist, and I cannot stop myself from the compulsion to create, and not being seen or heard of much this year doesn't make me less of an artist. 2010 has been an exciting challenge full of lessons to learn when you're not being loved every night in the bright stage lights.

All that being said, I had the exciting honor of headlining the Duck Room in January, which turned out to be the first show of the decade there. I had more shows with versions of full bands, and I had some out of town shows. In the spring, I played with Gregory Alan Isakov (Colorado) at The Old Rock House and Joshua James (Utah) at The Duck Room. [They are] absolutely tremendous songwriters who I've listened to over and over since then. I discovered and have become addicted to Gregory Alan Isakov's 2009 album, This Empty Northern Hemisphere. If you're only going to listen to two songs for the rest of your life, listen to "Evelyn" and "Master & A Hound: from that record - simply stunning.

Photo credit: Douglas Garfield

Seth Porter of The Blind Eyes

As 2009 turned over to 2010, I resolved that I would dramatically increase the number of local shows I attended. This proved to be a very easy resolution to keep. Partially because hanging out in (mostly) bars and listening to music is a lot easier to do than exercising or learning Chinese or whatever people interested in actual self-improvement chose as a New Year's resolution. More importantly though, there was so much good local music being performed that I was able to go see shows out of genuine interest as opposed to some kind of obligation to "support the scene." All of the shows get a little blurry by this point in the year, so in lieu of trying to remember the exact lineups and dates, I'll just try to recount some memorable moments in local music this past year.

In no particular order:

1 BDR Records show releasing Test Patterns and the Welders 7" I'm not from Saint Louis originally (or old or cool enough for that matter), so the Welders and all of the bands on the Test Patterns comp are completely new to me. Bunnygrunt and Medical Tourists played this show. Both were great. The best part of the night, though, was the solidly middle age, but still foxy, members of the Welders in attendance grinning ear to ear and hopping onstage with Bunnygrunt for a performance of their would-be hit, "P-E-R-V-E-R-T."

2. Old Lights I made a "Best of Saint Louis 2009" CD that featured an Old Lights song, but right around the time I became aware of their existence, I learned that they had packed up and moved to Oregon. Fortunately for those of us in Saint Louis, they returned with a new line-up and started playing out again. I saw them a few different times and am really looking forward to their forthcoming record.

3 An Undercover Weekend It is probably cheating to include this, as The Blind Eyes were a part of it, but this event was so much fun that I couldn't resist. We [The Blind Eyes] were extremely fortunate to collaborate with Beth Bombara, Cassie Morgan, Paige Brubeck (Sleepy Kitty), Sunyatta Marshall, and Brad Springmeyer on our Fleetwood Mac set. There were too many great performances on those three shows to mention them all, but John Joern joining Via Dove for "Hunger Strike," Cassie Morgan uncharacteristically rocking an electric guitar as one of The Breeders, and the lush, organic treatment of the Postal Service catalog by Union Tree Review all stand out in my mind.

4 "Gimme Tonight" by Tight Pants Syndrome The newest TPS record is a ton of fun and notable for its tight harmony singing. For whatever reason, "Gimme Tonight" is a song that I listened to over and over again when I got the record. Also, they deserve mention for the cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' for You" they performed at their CD release show.

5 The Livers perform "Enter Sandman" on 9/02/10 Booze, roller skating, and '90s rock? Yes, please. This whole show was great, although it turns out I'm not much of a skater. The Livers set featured a modified version of the classic "I'm not a chicken, you're a turkey" public service announcement and an "Enter Sandman" video starring Ryan Zimmerman of The Humanoids eating a sandwich (maybe crackers or cookies, can't remember for sure) which was somehow one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

6 TILTS' "Hot for Pizza" Song title of the year and further proof I should probably give up the guitar.

7 Cassie Morgan & the Lonely Pine's Battleship table Apparently the only thing that can effectively prop up the Jaymar piano so essential to CM&tLP's sound is the board game, Battleship. I had assumed it was just an empty box, but I've been told that the game still resides inside. Besides that, Weathered Hands, Weary Eyes is a wonderful, dark record.

8 Jason Hutto I knew this dude was fully committed to rock 'n' roll when at this year's RFT Music Showcase, he wore cowboy boots and a leather jacket for the entirety of a 95 degree day. His playing with Warm Jets USA and Bunnygrunt as well as his production work on a fine record by Popular Mechanics and the upcoming Sleepy Kitty record (at least one song of which has made its way to KDHX) are all worthy of praise.

9 Kentucky Knife Fight They released the excellent We're All Nameless Here, which they recorded over just a couple of days at Firebrand Recording and hey, look at that! They're playing with us at Off Broadway on New Year's Eve at what would certainly be an event on this list, if only I could go back to the future to write it. Hope to see you there! Cheers.

Geoff Koch | Solo in St. Louis

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Being a singer-songwriter in St. Louis is a daunting task. Ok, Jay Farrar of Son Volt still lives there, and last I checked, he's doing pretty well, but rock and hip-hop mostly thrive in the city by the Mississippi. After seeing Geoff Koch live at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room this past Saturday night, I'd say the man has a shot at building a Midwestern buzz off of 2008's underrated If It Feels Good, Don't Do It.

This isn't to say Koch can't rock the house, but during his 1+ hour solo performance, he kept it chill and comfortable. He also surprised us with two great covers: Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" and the show closer, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." Both songs worked quite well, especially matched up against his own material.

Which brings me to what I believe is his best song, "Pro-War."

On his album, it's loud, maybe even a little angry, and you don't really get a feel for all the words Koch is throwing at you. But when he's performing it solo, you realize that there are a few lines that can get your mind rolling.

My favorite one is: "It's not that I don't like peace, but violence is a friend of mine."

I talked to a couple of my friends last night as to what this line could possibly mean, but I'm still really not sure. The only thing I'm sure about is that this song isn't "Pro-War." Have a listen below. And go see Geoff Koch when he comes to your town.

Geoff Koch - Pro-War