Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – Billy Raffoul dropped by the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles on April Fools Day. The set was part of an acoustic West Coast tour to build buzz around his self-titled album that will be released on July 18th. He’s joined on the tour by his brother Peter Raffoul.
Together, the two of them are travelling the West Coast in a rented car and seem to be having a fun time together though Billy Raffoul opened his set by saying, “As excited as I am to have him on tour with me, my mother is more excited. It’s a favor to her. I thought it was a good idea at first, but now we’re on our sixth show and I’m not really enjoying following him every night because of what you just heard.” There was a long pause to build the comedic tension, “So . . . “ That got the fanbase laughing.
Raffoul’s set was filled with entertaining stories that mesmerized the enthusiastic crowd. The backdrop of the Peppermint Club stage created the appropriate atmosphere for story telling as he told the crowd at one point, “I feel like I’m in your living room.” Making all the more like a living room situation, he even interrupted his song “Homebody” to tell the crowd to take notice of the lyrics and that the “heart of the song” is admitting that he’s a terrible cook who wants to cook for his significant other who is a much better cook.
His song “Could You Be Mine?” highlighted his raspy vocals and got one of the loudest applauses of the night. Many in the audience could be observed drifting their hands with the melody of his vocals. The song included a prior tour anecdote. He mentioned that a couple in Salt Lake City said to him that this was their wedding song. He asked if they wanted to dance to the song, “She looks at me and goes, ‘We have two kids at home. I’m pregnant right now. Just play the f*cking song.’”
His song “Fit Together” is his latest release and explores how past relationships and life experiences guide towards a rewarding relationship, “If I hadn’t been kicked down the road. I wouldn’t be at your front door. I guess I’m broke for the better.”
“Coffee” is his Holiday Inn song. He mentioned that at a prior set he broke a guitar string. While changing the guitar string, he made up a fabricated story about how the song was about the coffee at Holiday Inn. Someone in the audience recorded the video and put it on Instagram. The next morning, he woke up to find out that the Holiday Inn Express was following him. His goal is that they give him a free room someday. The crowd sang along with him, providing an amazing backing harmony.
He ended the night with a three-song encore for the supportive audience. Throughout the set, people offered to buy him drinks. And just before starting the encore, someone came up to him and handed him a small burlap bag that was filled with tea. Throughout the set, he was sipping tea.
For his first encore “Room for Two,” he brought his brother onto the stage to play the keys. He closed out the night with his biggest hit “Acoustic.” As the song closed out with “We don’t have to scream out to prove it, We could keep it all acoustic,” the crowd began clapping and cheering the song to its conclusion.
As mentioned, Peter Raffoul opened up the night for his brother. “Is everybody sick of the April Fools’ jokes?” His fervent singing had a number of couples in the audience hugging tightly. One couldn’t help but notice that he played on a worn guitar that had fingernails and pick scratches on the body – a sign of love.
He mentioned that his song “Call Me” was written while he was at a writing session. At the time, he was going through a break-up and he wrote the song in his hotel room. He fiddled with the song until 4 a.m. Of course, there were complaints, which is written into the song. “And the neighbours just complained. The front desk just called me. They said ‘can you keep it down?’” He mentioned that the song has done horrible numbers, but that he’s happy with it. It is a lovely wistful tune and so it is totally understandable why he loves the song.
Billy Raffoul Setlist: Easy Tiger, Better, Homebody, Carolina, Could You Be Mine?, Bliss, Hell or High Water, What Lovers Do, Fit Together, Coffee, I’m Not a Saint. Encores: Room for Two, How About A Drink, Acoustic.
Listen to Billy Raffoul here:
