The Quinnipiac University college experience typically involves visiting the infamous Toad’s Place. This legendary venue is known for its unforgettable performances featuring artists like Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, and many more. Thursday, October 17, was my first Toad’s experience, which was highly out of my comfort zone. It had been a while since I had been to a concert, let alone Toad’s Place at all, and showed that I was willing to do anything to see my favorite artist, Ricky Montgomery, live. This show was life changing. Ricky’s music has always made me feel understood, and it always seems like he knows me far more than I know myself. 

I bought 3 VIP tickets for my friends and I before I knew if I had a ride there and made shirts for each of us that said “I <3 Ricky Montgomery.” As the day approached, I was met with anxiety and an equal amount of excitement to balance it all out. I got to the venue as early as possible to ensure I had a spot at the barricade. I purchased the VIP tickets with early access to the venue and a meet and greet with Ricky. Meeting him was surreal, and I got two items signed by him and could also take a picture with him. Naturally, I asked him to flip me off for the photo, and he immediately agreed. “Absolutely I will,” he said, which was hilarious. It is truly a moment that I will never forget.

The show began with a wonderful opener, Ray Bull, an indie pop duo from Brooklyn. A band that I hadn’t listened to much at all before finding out that they would be opening for Ricky. But, of course, I did my research, and as it turns out, I love all of their songs. Their set started with “Love is Hate,” into “Know by Now,” and “I Don’t Know Ya,” after these three, they played my second favorite song by them, “Tell Me I’m a Fool,” which is also their favorite song to perform live. After this, they played “Better than Nothing,” followed by “The New Thing Dies,” their most popular and my favorite song by them. Closing out their set, they played “Name Something Better.” 

Between Ray Bull and Ricky’s set, there was about a 30-minute intermission of other music playing over the speakers before Ricky came out. It was amusing to hear the crowd screaming “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance at a Ricky Montgomery concert. This also allowed me to connect with other people in the crowd. Fun Fact: all Ricky Montgomery fans are sweethearts and the best people ever, *wink wink.* I’m just jokin,’ I’m just jokin.’ In all seriousness, though, it was super easy to start a conversation with these people because, no matter what, you at least had something in common with them. Spoiler alert: it’s always more than one thing, and I was fortunate to meet some incredible people at this concert. This brief time between sets also allowed me to check out the merch table for the second time that night to buy a couple of shirts, a hat, two vinyls, and a hoodie… I spent way too much money.

The intermission came to a close, and the audience’s excitement was building up more and more. The members of Ricky’s band came out on stage one by one. Eliza Petrosyan played guitar, Mikey Wagner played bass, and David Cola played drums. Those three played “Intro” while the crowd eagerly awaited Ricky’s arrival. After about 3 minutes of instrumental build-up, Ricky slowly stepped through the prop of a white wall with an empty door frame out onto the stage surrounded by white light with his head down. Seamlessly, “Line without a Hook,” my absolute favorite song by him began. This song has always held a special place in my heart and singing it with Ricky and everyone in that crowded venue eased every nerve in my body, and an immense sense of belonging overtook me. You could feel hi

s energy. In most concerts I’ve been to, the headliner stayed near the center of the stage and didn’t move around a ton, but it was enjoyable to see how much audience interaction Ricky was doing. After “Line without a Hook,” “Cabo” played, my #1 song from my 2023 Spotify Wrapped, and then the first song from his second album, “Rick,” “One Way Mirror.” Following this grouping of songs, Ricky introduced the band and invited the crowd to give it up for Ray Bull. 

“Talk to You” was the next song, followed by a bit of backstory about his newest song, “Superfan,” which came out October 24th and was unreleased at the time of my concert. This song is about getting dropped from his label and that being yourself and loving your friends is always more important. And, oh boy, did I cry. This song has quickly become one of my favorite Ricky Montgomery songs and will probably be my most-played song of 2024, even though it came out with only a month and a half left of the year. “Superfan” leads incredibly well into “Black Fins,” a musical autobiography of how Ricky handles his father’s passing. “I Don’t Love You Anymore” is a song that was originally written by The Honeysticks, which was Ricky’s old band. 

Then, Ricky did a cutesy little bit about how they were trying to decide what song to play next, and everyone in the audience started shouting their favorite songs. Ricky ended up playing “Eraser.” Ricky spoke about how “Unknown Phantom” is the most metal

song that he has created and jokingly mentioned how, at a prior show, a group of people moshed. During his next song, “Snow,” he used the white wall from earlier to project a background video that had a ton of references to his other songs and the “Truth or Dare” Music video (which, unfortunately, they didn’t play). The song that played next was “My Heart is Buried in Venice.” This song is also very significant to me, as it’s one of the leading four songs that introduced me to Ricky’s music a few years ago. 

Ricky said he would finally play a happy song after so many songs about how horrible his life is and his dad dying. This song, of course, was “Boy Toy.” This song is, in fact, not happy and is all about his crappy past relationship, but hey, it’s got a cheery beat. Right into “Settle Down,” which is also about said past, less-than-ideal relationship. Ricky wrapped up his setlist by reminding us that this was his last song and that he wouldn’t return for an encore under any circumstances. As his final song of the night, he played “Out Like a Light.” An iconic song that everyone in the audience sang along with. This was a great way to end the show, especially since he kept emphasizing that he wouldn’t return for an encore. 

He came back for an encore, and the audience erupted with applause. He played two songs to officially close out the night, “This December,” where he invited the entire audience who was willing and able to jump, which was a ton of fun, and then ended the show with “Mr. Loverman,” his most recognizable song and one of the main songs that got him to where he is today. 

As the concert ended, all I could feel was gratitude for the entire experience. Seeing Ricky Montgomery live was incredible. Not only did I love his music and performance, but I also felt as though I was part of a larger community among his fans. One thing is for certain: once you experience a night like this, you become a “Superfan” for life.