“I’ve been winging it for 15 years” said Off With Their Heads signer Ryan Young answering a shout from the crowd during the concert Wednesday night at the Tin Roof in Charleston, SC. This was the Off With Their Heads acoustic set and the crowd was into it, shouting out jokes and requests. Young seemed to enjoy the audience interaction, telling us he’ll be bringing the full band back to play a concert in Charleston.
I was excited to hear it and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Young told us early on, “This works best if you all sing along” and this audience was happy to join in – there were obviously a lot of other fans in the decently sized crowd last night. Surprising for a cold weekday night and I was really glad to see it because Charleston can really under-deliver in that department.
On stage Young was likeable and a little aggressive, freely telling the audience to fuck off but all in fun and nobody seemed to mind. He wasn’t interested in requests, saying he was sticking to his set list, and was a little (unnecessarily) self-deprecating about his guitar skills. He has an amazing gruff, emotional voice that suits the hard edges in his music.
Young began solo but brought up an earlier act, Seth Anderson, to join in after a few songs. Seth’s sunny disposition was a fun counterpoint to Young’s darker tones and the two definitely played it up.
It was a set of acoustic punk that was more or less what I would have expected from Off With Their Heads – hard-hitting music played with genuine feeling and a no-frills attitude.
The two openers were also energetic and enjoyable – perfectly suited to the tone of the night. Brook Pridemore played acoustic guitar using more pedals than anyone I’ve ever seen besides Cory Branan – adding a fun level of weird sounds to his already engaging set. Seth Anderson sang sincere and relatable songs with a relaxed, confident attitude and just seemed to be having such a good time that it was contagious.
I certainly had a great time throughout the whole night and highly recommend going to see this tour. They’ll be heading through the Southeastern and Midwestern U.S. in the next few weeks so give them a shot if they’re coming near you!
Off With Their Heads tour dates
For details check them all out online:
