//Neon Reports: Gavin DeGraw Tour With MariÃ© Digby//

Gavin DeGraw is the real freakin’ deal. Anyone who’s spent even 2.4 seconds at Neon Limelight knows he’s among one of this site’s most cherished musicians. He has songs with mainstream appeal–his first hit from his platinum debut alum Chariot was the smash “I Don’t Want to Be.” The song is an American Idol contestant favorite and the theme song for the CW drama One Tree Hill. The insanely addictive first single from his self-titled sophomore album, “In Love With a Girl,” is a fixture on Top 40 radio. Yet through all pop success, Gavin’s maintained a sense of relative obscurity among today’s paparazzi trailed, weekly mag obsessed “artists.” His fans still feel like they’re in on this little known secret; like they’ve found this unscathed by the masses musical gem. Neon Limelight is damn proud to be in on that secret.

We’re also in on another secret: MariÃ© Digby. The 25-year-old stunner from California became a youtube sensation last year when her cover of Rihanna‘s “Umbrella” made its way onto MTV’s The Hills and pop radio. She put out her debut album called Unfold in April this year and has been touring to support it since. She landed the prime position as the tour opener for Gavin DeGraw’s summer tour and we hightailed it to Richmond, VA to catch the show.

MariÃ© took the stage dressed casually in jeans, knee high boots, and a summery brown top with her band shortly after 9PM. No introduction. Just a few mic checks, sat at the keyboard and launched into the bouncy pop number “Stupid For You.” After the healthy applause from the audience, MariÃ© introduced herself and let the crowd know a little about her journey from youtube to the stage at The National Theatre that night.

She traded her keyboard in for her wooden guitar and began to rock. But she’s not that kind of rocker, and she doesn’t try to be. Her near 35-minute long set showcased her simplistic pop-rock influenced songs more suited to AC radio than Top 40. She has a voice that is reminiscent of a matured Mandy Moore (not the “Candy” era Mandy. Think the more authentic “Wild Hope” era MM), sweet and honest; not very showy. But believe me, the crowd was never bored. Songs like “Fool,” Traffic,” and Digby’s melodic first single “Say It Again” kept the crowd swaying along. The biggest response was delivered, of course, by “Umbrella” with the crowd jumping in for a sing-a-long.

MariÃ© wrapped her set with her ode to staying single, the infectious “Girlfriend.” For a girl who used to frequent coffee house open mic nights, she sure showed some big stage confidence–mostly. She’dÂ turn her back to the audience a bit when she really started to rock out. But that’s nothing she can’t work on with a couple more tours. And with her strong outing on this tour, she’ll definitely land on another big one in no time before inevitably headlining her own.

The beauty of writing for a blog versus a newspaper or any other kind of controlled media outlet is I’m allowed to be a fan. I don’t have the pressure to present information in a pompous, cold, journalistic way. If I was forced to do so I think I’d have to skip this review. There’s no way for me not to gush uncontrollably about the live performance goodness that was Gavin DeGraw on stage.

The modest sales of his second album is no indication of just how strong his fanbase is. They’re rabid even. Many of them traveled miles and miles to the show having already been to a handful of other dates on the tour. The mostly female crowd, ranging from teens to late 40s, erupted into hysterical screams and cheers as the lights went down to signal the start of the Gavin DeGraw experience. And boy was it a damn good experience. Every minute of his nearly 2 hour long set captivated the packed theatre. No frills needed.

He casually strolled onto the stage, guitar in hand, wearing a red and white checkered button-up shirt, black hat, weathered brown boots and brown belt. He’ll never win any awards for his fashion sense, but why on earth should that matter? This man is all about his music.

He launched right into “Relative” incorporating his quirky personality and signature bar-lover language into the performance. “But any friend is best when you’re freezing in the f*ckin’ rain,” he sang in the second verse. He sat at the his sparkling black piano for the pop masterpiece, and easily one of my favorite songs, like, ever,Â ”Crush.”

The piano to guitar trade-offÂ continued steadily throughout the nightÂ as Gavin performed fan favorites like “Follow Through,”Â ”We Belong Together” and “Untamed.”

An all out party broke out when Gavin leapt from the piano to perform “Chemical Party” mixing it with his soulful rendition of Ike and Tina Turner‘s “Proud Mary.”

Other spontaneous moments would arise during the night as Gavin and band celebrated the end of this particular tour outing. Gavin took to the guitar to perform an original birthday song for anyone celebrating a birthday–coincidentally, nearly the entire front section claimed it to be their birthday. Yeah, sure.

The party rolled on through electrifying performance after performance up to the new single “Cheated On Me,” comeback rocker hit “In Love With A Girl” to the song that put GDG on the map, “I Don’t Want To Be.” Gavin and the band cleared the stage after that song wrapped, but no one was fooled. A DeGraw staple was missing: “Chariot.”

DeGraw came back but took the stage alone. The band was nowhere to be found. He sat at his piano and started to play James Taylor‘s “Bartender Blues.” He then got a little sexy treating the crowd to a medley of Marvin Gaye hits like “Sexual Healing” and “Let’s Get It On” before inviting the band back for a cover of “Walking in Memphis.” He ended the incredible encore with an energy-filled performance of “Chariot.”

If ever there was an artist with the complete package it’s Gavin DeGraw. As great as he is on wax, he is 3x better live. I guess you can add Neon Limelight to the list of rabid fans willing to travel the distance to catch a live Gavin DeGraw show. He’s worth it.