With a nervous eye on the overcast New York City skies, a sizable crowd gathered for an early installment of TSQ Live’s summer concert series on Friday night. Headliner and New York native Des Rocs strutted onstage as the sun started to go down and Times Square started to feel the weekend congestion- and his set had people stopping in their tracks.
Kicking off the journey on the “Dream Machine”, the charismatic guitarist and his longtime backing band were clearly thrilled to be playing on their home turf for fellow city rats. By the second song, tourists in the square were stopping along the barricades to the stage, drawn in by the irresistible energy of Des and co.
His set mirrored that of his recently concluded headlining tour and fans were still excited to hear favorites like “Maybe, I” and “Nowhere Kid”. Forgetting that the stage had a rather low hanging ceiling, Des Rocs went to swing his guitar and cracked it right down the middle- and managed to finish the song before swapping instruments.
As his set came to a close, the weather decided that it was also upset at the evening ending and unleashed another bout of rain on the crowd. Des came down from the stage to run amongst the fans for “Let Me Live / Let Me Die”, drawing the outside crowd into the excitement as well.
He wasn’t done with us yet- in a surprising twist ending, Des closed the evening with a perfectly on point cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”- and New Yorkers walking along could be heard expressing their amazement at the pitch-perfect rendition. Fans who stuck around through the rain even had the chance to meet Des after the show, bringing home that feeling of being right where we all belonged in that moment.
