Joshua Radin and Ron Pope Co-headlining Tour: The Kessler Dallas, TX

November 22, 2024 – Best way to end a stressful work week? An intimate, acoustic show with Ron Pope and Joshua Radin at The Kessler. I have been a fan of these two lyrical geniuses for several years and I can say with certainty that they both have a fan in me forever. Something I did not expect, however, is for the pair to be comedy kings. So many anecdotes and pointed jokes throughout the event between almost every single song!

Both Pope and Radin performed unreleased tunes– they also had vinyl of their respective unreleased album sat the merch booth that are not set to be available to the public until sometime in 2025. Best believe I snagged copies of each!

Ron Pope started the evening with an hour-long set. At one point early on, he glanced at his watch and let us know that he wasn’t bored, he just has a pact with Joshua Radin that they both play the same amount of time. The Americana folk artist performed completely solo, playing acoustic guitar throughout most ofhis set and the keyboard for his last two songs. Pope ended his beautiful set with “A Drop in the Ocean,” made incredibly popular by The CW television series The Vampire Diaries. Ron has an extensive discography that I highly encourage you to visit if you are a fan of heartfelt, gritty Americana folk music and excellent storytelling lyrics.

I first fell in love with Joshua Radin’s music in high school when I discovered his 2006 debut album “We Were Here.” Midway through the album is a gorgeous love song titled “Today” that was played constantly on my iPod nano. You may recognize Joshua’s biggest hit ,“Paperweight” with Schuyler Fisk, from 2010’s film Dear John. It was such a healing moment for little Jessie to hear Radin perform that song at The Kessler. In the second half of the set, Joshua had the crowd stand up and let out a collective primal scream which proved to be quite euphoric and effective as the energy in the room boosted.

For most of the evening, Joshua performed with Gabe Burdulis who alternated between acoustic guitar and steel pedal. For the last song of the night, he brought up his friend Brandon Walters to play guitar and sing with him.

This co-headlining tour may be over now but, if you are across the pond, you can catch both Radin and Pope touring separately in Europe and North America starting in January 2025. Joshua Radin’s newest album “One Day Home” comes out February 14, 2025 and Ron Pope’s new album “American Man, American Music” will also release in 2025.

PHOTO CREDIT: Live photos by Jessica Fagan for ZrockR Magazine – (c) 2024 – All Rights Reserved.