A line of people formed from the entrance of the intimate Mercury Lounge in New York City down to the corner of the block while passersby could be heard saying “Someone big must be playing tonight.” That someone was Steve Moakler as he brought his Suitcase Tour to the Big Apple on Saturday, April 30.
Moakler is no stranger to NYC. Growing up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he has family in the area, as well as cousins in the NYPD (as proudly proclaimed in his song “This Ain’t Rock and Roll”). So when Moakler comes to town it’s a bit of a family reunion, as family and friends mingled with longstanding fans as well as newer ones who recently discovered him thanks to his most recent self-titled EP, his first as a country artist. The new-found popularity of his EP and current radio single “Suitcase” became obvious when about half of the room raised their hand when Moakler asked the crowd if this was their first time seeing his concert.
The set list was a great mix of old and new material. He kicked off the night with “Play You Down” from his 2011 album Watching Time Run and “Rather Make a Living” from his 2014 Wide Open before playing the summertime fun song “Love Drunk” off of his newest EP. He explained how he wrote “This Ain’t Rock and Roll” from the point of a northern city-boy about his love of country music, and followed with the heartbreaking ballad “Summer Without Her.”
After a wonderful performance of the Keith Urban-esque “Jealous Girl,” Moakler told the story of how his long curly locks caused his looks to be compared to that of the Jonas Brothers back in the day, and paid tribute to the trio with a cover of Nick Jonas’ “Jealous,” high notes on point and all. Switching gears, Moakler then performed “Thing About Us,” a song that has a history of inspiring couples to dance while he croons to them.
It’s a magical moment when a songwriter performs a song that he or she wrote, but was made famous by another; 
seeing the person who had a part in the creation of the song bring those words to life, and Moakler singing Dierks Bentley’s “Riser” (co-written by Moakler and Travis Meadows) was one of those moments. His passion as he sings the chorus is just so pure you can feel it coming deep from inside, and that passion continued with “Steel Town,” a heartfelt song about the hardworking people of his hometown of Pittsburgh.
As he approached the final song of the set, Moakler discussed how this was the first time in his career that he’s been able to close a show with his current radio single before performing the growingly popular “Suitcase.” (There were two suitcases on stage with an image of a flag for a light decoration on stage, a cute accessory for the “Suitcase Tour”)
For the encore, Moakler went deep in his catalog (2009) for the beautiful ballad “Hesitate,” before bringing back out
Shelley Skidmore and Greg Bates for a phenomenal cover of The Eagles’ “Take It Easy.”
Skidmore and Bates, who were married last year, opened the show with a fantastic duet set. Skidmore performed a few of her solo songs, including the classic sounding “White Picket Fences,” while Bates played his hit song “Did It For the Girl” as well as their duet on “Whipped.”
Remaining dates for Moakler’s Suitcase Tour can be found on his website www.SteveMoakler.com. He will also be performing at CMA Fest on the Gildan Broadway Stage at Hard Rock Café on June 9.
Moakler’s self-titled EP, as well as his previous releases, is available on all outlets. The Mixtape (a great compilation of past songs) is available exclusively on Spotify.