The Hotel Café in Hollywood has become known for it’s intimate setting and drawing the greatest singer/songwriter acts in the industry. Butch Walker is no stranger to this kind of setting, nor to the Hotel Café. In the month of November, he’s inhabiting the stage every Wednesday night, playing his solo albums from start to finish. 
From the time I re-located to Los Angeles, I had been incredibly eager to go to a show at this now notable venue, and with great luck, it happened to be Butch: an artist I’ve been known to obsess over, following him across state lines for shows. It had been a couple of years since I’d been to a show of his, and my excitement mixed with a bit of nerves, not knowing if I could expect the same dynamic experience I’d been privy to in the past.
I was anything but disappointed. On November 4, Butch Walker treated fans to a performance of his 2nd solo album, Letters. If you’re familiar with the record, you don’t really need to be informed of the setlist. Save for “#1 Summer Jam” and “Thank You Note” he played every track. And fans also needn’t be worried about anything that happens onstage. Walker still possesses all of the talent and humor he always has.
The highlight of the night may have been during “Uncomfortably Numb.” The crowd was delighted with an entirely new arrangement, featuring Butch playing the mandolin (a first for me to see, and I’ve seen him 14 times” and a segue into a cover of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” It was also exciting to see him take the one-man-band approach, consistently working a bass drum with one foot and switching between an array of guitars spread over the stage.
And what would a Butch Walker show be without the entire audience softly singing along? Proving that he’s completely aware of this fact, Walker turned the mic on the audience for “Best Thing You’ve Never Had,” letting the crowd sing the entire song while he played, like group-live-band-karaoke. The sing-along spectators also saved his ass at one point, when he couldn’t remember the words that started the ultimate apology song, “Promise.” As he vamped the opening chords, a pensive yet blank look washed over his face as you could see him struggle to remember the lyrics, until a fan audibly prompted, “Well, I fumbled…!” But that kind of slip-up comes off as irrelevant when grading the quality of a Butch Walker show. It’s only remembered as a funny moment and proves how devoted his followers are.
Next week, Butch Walker will play through The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets-Go-Out-Tonites. I will be there with bells on, trying not to become my old fan-girl self as he plays all the way from “Hot Girls in Good Moods” to “When Canyons Ruled the City.” And hopefully, you will be too.
Butch Walker: website | myspace | Sycamore Meadows review | interview with | @ grog shop
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