Ron Pope is a singer/songwriter who plays an accessible style that meanders between country-pop-ballad, on its softer side, and a markedly southern rhythm and blues, on its edgier. 
Running through it all is an attention to lyrical and emotional detail which has connected with many and earned him a following large enough to sellout Irving Plaza this past Saturday. 
The Nighthawks are a six-piece backing band accompanying Ron’s foray into hard rock. As Ron Pope & The Nighthawks they released their self-titled album the day before their New York City gig and were eager to try out their new material. 
When he hit the stage a blue spotlight fell on Ron. He sung a few words into the mic. His voice was a croon, quivering and honest. I expected nothing less than a ballad. But quickly the lights went up and the band erupted into a rhythm and blues number infectious enough to deserve its own gospel choir as back-up. 
The up-tempo songs held to this course – southern tinged, mildly distorted guitars with plenty of room for keyboards, and a fair amount of harmonizing. For a few songs the keyboard players turned into a brass section adding yet another dimension to the music. 
For the slower songs the rest of the band stepped back a bit – sparing keyboard arrangements, percussion played with wire-brush drumsticks, and clean guitars. Since Ron Pope made his name as a solo singer/songwriter, it was only fitting that the rest of the band not intrude unnecessarily on what was essentially an intimate dialogue between him and his audience. 
And the audience, the majority of whom were female, held up their end, singing the lyrics to his songs by heart. But at no point was the emotion more palpable than when The Nighthawks left the stage to let Ron play his solo work. With nothing but a spotlight on him, seated behind his keyboard, he seemed to transport the audience through the vicissitudes of love and loss as can only be felt by the sensitive and truly exposed. Judging by the age of the crowd and the songs, his solo performance must’ve played like the soundtrack to their adolescence. 
Adding a further tinge of melancholy and nostalgia, Ron invited the Nighthawks and the opening acts on stage to do an a-capella version of the Faces’ “Ooh La La,” which brought the house down. At this point they were only a few songs from finishing up their set and leaving behind a very impressed and satisfied audience, some long time fans, some new. 
More pictures from the show, which was also opened by Jonathan Tyler and Truett: 
Pictures by Sharon Alagna (www.sharonalagnaphotography.com) Text by Mario Norena
