Josh Ritter v. Pirates - The Atlantic's 150th

Nov. 8, 2007 - I hadn’t really heard of Josh Ritter until he played at a party I attended – it was The Atlantic’s 150th anniversary bash in NY (see Gawker’s snarkier-than-usual coverage: http://gawker.com/news/disasters/the-atlantic-attempts-a-new-york-party-bombs-320939.php). To me, he was apparently “some guy” that the kids at The Atlantic deeply worshipped, and he was “big in Ireland.” Also “the next Bob Dylan.” Apparently.

Not even Bob Dylan is the next Bob Dylan.

But Josh Ritter surprised me. He was actually a lot more fun than Robert De Niro, who showed up with his arm in a sling and a chip on his shoulder – riding the elevator with him was the most awkward experience of my past few months. Sadly, his shoulder wasn’t injured from what I hoped was a mob run-in, but rather it was a result of recent surgery. Funny, though, seeing him chase after a yellow cab in the street post-party – I didn’t think De Niro did anything that wasn’t hard-boiled.

And Moby was quite enjoyable. After riding in the elevator with him (we talked about his ironic/humorous t-shirt declaring “Republicans for Voldemort”) I finally understood why so many women have slept with the slight, bald musician.

But when Josh Ritter took the stage, the hype finally made sense. I know you can strap a guitar on a guy and he becomes at least 150% more attractive, but the Josh Ritter phenomenon (www.myspace.com/joshritter) goes above and beyond my usual guitar/attractiveness ratio expectations.

His performance was pretty damn good, and I liked it well more than the mustachioed Patti Smith and her out of tune guitar twangling that followed.

Between getting to tell Mr. Ritter to “knock ‘em dead” right before he went on, and the kiss on the cheek I got from him on the way out, I have a bit of a crush.

His music’s not bad, either.

PJ O’Rourke, former Governor William Weld, Arianna Huffington, and others spoke for a bit about “The American Idea.” But what is “The American Idea?” It sounds like the reason Uncle Sam is pointing at YOU so intensely. Despite the vagaries of American Ideas, Atlantic President Justin Smith nodded in agreement, etc., etc.

And if Josh Ritter wants my phone number, he can have it.