Let's Get Reckless!

Review of Cassadee’s show at Altar Bar!

It was a night of acoustics, humbleness and connection with the fans as Cassadee Pope played a solo show Sunday at the Altar Bar in the Strip District.

It was interesting to see Pope handle a solo setup, after leaving Hey Monday, a 5-piece pop-punk band. The stage was subtly set with just a dark, black curtain in the background, with a bongo as a drum, a violinist, one other guitarist and Pope, also on guitar.

Pope took the stage with her chunky blonde highlighted hair pulled back in a ponytail, which was also noticeably copied by fans present. “I love your sweater!” screamed a girl in the front, to which Pope replied “Aw, thank you so much! From Forever 21, because I’m cheap,” with a short chuckle.

Moments like this make artists like Pope worth following: a fan’s ability to connect with the artist, and feel like you belong, as if she’s singing directly to you.

After a few jokes about Pittsburgh weather, she went into “I Don’t Want To Dance,” Hey Monday’s last single. The song’s tempo was slowed down, but Pope was right on track. Her voice shined over the steady bongo beat and ringing acoustic guitars.

She then discussed her departure from Hey Monday, saying she wished to pursue a truer sound: one that allows her to sing sans major production.

To show how far she’s come, she played two new songs, both of which were much different from Hey Monday’s sound, but with Pope’s familiar vocals still taking the forefront. Her voice was incredibly strong despite the fact that she picked up a cold the night before. She joked that her hotel room “Was made in the ‘20s, and the heater in the ‘30s,” but that the“Panera next door made it OK.”

After playing the Hey Monday ballad “Candles,” she played another new song that co-written with friend and fellow musician Justin Young, who wasn’t present. She said the song was about “not letting people tell you that you can’t do something,” which was speculatively about her decision to go solo.

A cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s ”Torn” was met with loud applause from the audience, but not nearly as loud as her solo rendition of “How You Love Me Now,” which in spite of being acoustic, still got the crowd jumping and shouting back the chorus.

She then took some requests, including crowd favorite “6 Months” from Hey Monday’s debut album, and three others, two of which were older songs she hadn’t performed in years.  She played the first with only one stopping point, laughing off her error, and agreed to play just the chorus of the second, and finished strong with her last song. Although she stalled at points, forgetting how to play a part, she laughed it off and thanked the crowd for “being sonice.”

Stephen Jerzak, the opening act, played to a fervent audience. Jerzak’s songs about young love were etched all over the shirts of his young fan base. It would be difficult to tell that Jerzak is the teen’s alternative to radio pop, as he is still largely unknown in pop realms. But his acoustic, yet fast-paced love songs surely got the crowd smiling and dancing.

Pope can absolutely hold her own as a solo artist, and performances like Sunday night’s show her fans that some musicians are just like them. They shop at the same stores, go through the same things, eat at the same restaurants and sometimes even make mistakes that they have to laugh off.

The intimacy of the night made it all the more memorable; how she spoke to fans amidst the set, listened to their requests, and sang to them as if she knew them personally made the show special. Fans get the enjoyment of good pop music without the bratty attitude or celebrity behavior and status. That’s not something you can get with major pop productions.

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