When the COVID-19 lockdown happened, artists were stuck at home. The musical era that arose from the lockdown was as varied as can be, from Bo Burnham’s iconic album “Inside” to Taylor Swift’s “Folklore”/“Evermore” sister releases. Many new artists also rose to prominence in that time due to everyone’s increased reliance on the internet. For me, however, one artist’s music stands out as the soundtrack of my lockdown.
Richard Owen Holmes Montgomery, better known as just Ricky Montgomery, really gained traction over the pandemic. His 2016 album “Montgomery Ricky” was picked up and adopted by many online fandoms. Particularly, the songs “Mr. Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook” quickly became incredibly popular on TikTok. I discovered Montgomery right before the lockdown happened, so sometime in early February of 2020. When he announced that his tour, ANOTHER RICK IN THE WALL!, would be stopping in Denver, I had to get tickets.
The show was held on March 12, 2024 at the Gothic Theater. I’m starting by docking points for playing at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday, but the show ended around 10:45 so it wasn’t too late. The vibes were great. Everyone was really excited and super friendly. As I was standing in line with my friend, I saw a guy walking around in a phantom-like Halloween costume. Montgomery would later reveal that he went around interviewing people while incognito to promote his newest single “Unknown Phantom”.
I’ll be honest, I don’t think that Montgomery’s newer songs hit quite the same as the stuff from his first album. Just because of the time period I found Montgomery’s music, songs like “Cabo”, “Snow” and “Get Used to It” will always be more special to me than any of his new releases. However, the setlist did not disappoint. It was a good balance of stuff from his old album and his newest album “Rick”. From that album, “Type A”, “Boy Toy” and “Truth or Dare” are definitely my favorite tracks. Additionally, a lot of tracks from “Rick” that I was indifferent about sounded a lot better live. Overall, it seems that Montgomery has found a way to strike a good balance between his old releases and his new music.