SHOW REVIEW:
The Pamlico Sound at the Boulder Theater
by Adam Perry for Denver Westword 3/15/2021
Friday was the one-year anniversary of the night I sat in the historic Jamestown Mercantile, playing chess with my daughter, and received a text message from the Boulder Valley School District saying that classes were canceled indefinitely. The pandemic has been historic, deadly, chaotic and stressful; it’s also been painful and worrisome for almost anyone who’s either in the music industry or just relishes live music. So it was a big deal, after my music-loving girlfriend and I received recent vaccination shots, to attend the Pamlico Sound’s socially distanced concert at the Boulder Theater on Friday night – a real concert and a real date.
For months, the Boulder Theater has been slowly reintroducing live music, with local bands that usually play clubs and bars getting the chance to headline the beautiful 115-year-old, 850-capacity theater in a scaled-down setup that accommodates an audience of just under 150. The Pamlico Sound, led by multi-talented frontman and head honcho Will Baumgartner, aka Reverend EverReady, was a perfect fit for the theater’s incremental return, using its energetic big-band funk to remind people, no matter how awkward it might feel for some at first, what it’s like to dance in public.
As we entered the venue, a Boulder Theater employee took our temperatures, another scanned our tickets, and another was waiting to escort us to our first-row balcony seats. We were one of three couples in the balcony, each very far apart, and a masked waiter made the rounds, taking orders for drinks and food, explaining that ordering at the bar was not an option because of safety concerns. Those who reserved tables received two drinks per person and tacos, along with one vinyl copy per “pod” of the Pamlico Sound’s The Funk Is Not for Sale album.
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Adam Perry 