Penny & Sparrow at the Music Box

Penny & Sparrow
The Music Box in Little Italy, San Diego
10/20/2017
Article and photo by photographer Steve Anderson

The band Penny and Sparrow have some very devoted fans. Earlier in the night Penny and Sparrow held a  VIP Meet N Greet gathering in the upstairs balcony of the Music Box. Fans pay more for the VIP tickets which includes an up close and personal experience. Sitting around a cozy fire Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke played a song that revealed their impeccable harmonies and brought smiles to the faces of the small gathering.  One fan revealed that her husband flew them from Texas so that she could see them on this night in order to celebrate her birthday! Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke (Penny and Sparrow) were so blown away by their devotion that they thanked them profusely and led the rest of the group in a rousing version of “Happy Birthday”!

For this show, the Music Box was set up with seats in front and the back half of the club set up for general admission standing room only. The venue was packed. The stage was bare except for one small platform with two microphones surrounded by a black background and minimal lighting. Most bands I have seen perform here use every prop and lighting trick to enhance their performance but not Penny and Sparrow. Starting with their first song, they used good old fashioned tight harmonies and emotionally moving lyrics to connect with their fans.

After the Opening song  "Wendigo", Andy started joking with the audience and a lady back in the crowd yelled out  “I love you guys” to which Andy replied, “Thank you for that voice of approval, face in the back that I cannot see” to which the whole crowd laughed. And then the lady yelled out "You make me real happy” and everyone busted up laughing. After things calmed down a bit, Andy asked if the crowd was ready and the lady yelled, “My name is Shannon” which brought out more laughter. Again, when the crowd was through laughing, Andy and Kyle both said, “Ok I think Shannon is ready so let’s go".  By now the capacity crowd was warmed up.  I had a glimpse into how Penny and Sparrow have created such devoted fans. Andy and Kyle have deliberately removed any barriers between them and the audience until everyone is on one level and performers and audience have merged together. For the rest of the 17 song set they treated the crowd  to an intimate night of soaring vocals and catchy lyrics. Two crowd favorites were their cover of the Whitney Houston song "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and "Double Heart" off their new album WENDIGO.

Be sure to catch one of their live shows when they swing through your town.

http://www.pennyandsparrow.com/

All photographs are copyrighted images.

Kyle Jahnke

Andy Baxter

Setlist
Wendigo
Honest Wage
Gold
I Wanna Dane With Somebody
(Whitney Houston cover)
Part 1 Visiting
Kin
Serial Doubter
Fantine
Salome & Saint Procula
Suet
The Boxer
(Simon & Garfunkel cover)
Slaves
Javert
Rivertown
Double Heart
Creature
Encore
Part 2 Smitten