Dan Hardy Joco’s Waltham, MA August 17, 2012
Dan Hardy played two sets at Joco’s in front of a crowd of a dozen regulars. Since Hardy plays the area circuit, I’m not sure if tonight constituted an average crowd. With an acoustic guitar and a voice higher than you might guess, he covered a range of songs from Goo Goo Dolls’ Slide to a pair of Tom Petty covers American Girl and Mary Jane’s Last Dance.
His best was a deconstructed version of Wonderwall. His mash up of Message in a Bottle/Crash into Me started to steer a little too John Mayer for my tastes. Better was a mellow version of the hipster go to song Take Me Home, Country Roads. His one attempt at banter, about snapping a “G string” fell flat but Hardy had the crowd singing along the entire night which to my mind meant mission accomplished.