Jarrod Gorbel @ The Cutting Room. New York City.

Last night, I went to the Cutting Room to see a last minute show done by Jarrod Gorbel, lead singer of The Honorary Title. Oh, the perks of living in New York City...

I walked into the Cutting Room as a first timer and looked around. It didn't take long to realize it was owned by Sex and the City star Chris North, as there was an enormous picture of him pointing and winking at me, taking up an entire wall. How pompous.

Once in the back room, I took a seat at one of the numerous candlelit tables and took in the first opener, Christopher Browder. Oh boy. I can't even go into this without laughing. Okay, I'll try. He was trying to hard to be Emo, trying too hard to seem poetic, trying too hard... period. Lyrics like "You're my Tangerine" and "You're my Substitute Angel" made me cringe and his voice was enough to drive me out of the place and to the nearest Duane Reade for a bottle of extra strength Advil.

The next opener was David Moore, who came with a band who thought they were cool but weren't and Moore sounded like an even more washed out version of Don Henely [I apologize to any Henely fans out there]. They overstayed their welcome and had most of us nearly asleep by the end of their set.

When Jarrod Gorbel tip-toed onto the stage in his red and black plaid button down and skinny jeans, the atmosphere did a complete turn-around. And when he started to play... hm, I'm not sure of which I want to say here: Either he was like a breath of fresh air or he took my breath away. Both, if that's possible. If you know The Honorary Title, you know that Gorbel's band gives certain songs a pop, get up and dance feel, but solo, the songs sounded like what you'd listen to if you sat in a dark room alone after a heart break; songs that cut you so deep they allow you to cry out every shitty feeling you have and afterward give you a new sense of purity. Gorbel's voice rang through the rafters, crept down the gothic chandeliers and fell delicately upon our ears, no doubt capitvating every single one of us. I wanted to leap from my chair and give the man a hug for making such stunning music. *Sidenote: speaking of stunning, Gorbel was drop dead gorgeous. Seriously, the photos do no justice.

Gorbel announced that this was "our" show and there was no set list, that he'd take requests and play whatever the crowd wanted to hear. We picked mostly sappy songs and he laughed at that, but kept his word. My personal favorite of the night? "Snow Day", an "oldie but goodie", if you will. Overall, I left the show feeling satisfied and in some sort of euphoric daze. I met Gorbel afterward. He signed my poster and made it out to "G-Lovin", then was nice enough to pose for a photo. I got home at 3am and had to get up at 7:30, but never once cared. Last night was worth all sleep deprivation in the world.

Check out the Honorary Title @ http://myspace.com/thehonorarytitle

Here's a video of "Snow Day":