As I was waiting in line, I heard the bouncer inform a couple just ahead of me that Joseph Arthur had actually sold out the Bowery Ballroom that night, and the pair walked away disappointed. By the time Mr. Arthur took the stage just after 10:30, the Bowery was indeed packed, leaving barely enough room for patrons to snake their way to the bar.

The crowd ran the gamut from twenty-somethings sporting spiked hair and fingerless gloves to respectable-looking middle-aged couples. One of these parental-type pairs, along with a handful of other people, left after the first several songs, perhaps to seek out something quieter or more accessible. For though the evening had many quiet moments, the accessible ones were fewer and further between.

Nonetheless, those that stayed (and kept the Ballroom well filled past midnight) seemed transfixed by Mr. Arthur's music. There was little talking, and the vast majority of eyes were glued to the stage. This crowd clearly understood what this music is all about.

With a vocal strength and an upper register reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, Mr. Arthur accompanies himself on guitar and electronic paraphernalia, with some harmonica thrown in now and again. On this particular evening he was also joined, for some songs, by Pat Sansone, who added keys, vocals, and tambourine to the mix. But Mr. Arthur primarily filled out the sound of his lone acoustic guitar by beating on the soundbox, and fretboard for percussion and then electronically looping that rhythm along with melodic and harmonic details that come and go throughout each song as he stomps on various pedals that control the loops. It's a unique technique that has inspired other artists (notably Howie Day), and allows for a full, complex sound with no one but Mr. Arthur on stage.

The set ran only an hour, but Mr. Arthur quickly returned for a two song encore, ending with "In the Sun." The crowd still wasn't satisfied, and called him back for two more songs. At the end of "Favorite Girl," Mr. Arthur announced, "That was the end of the gig, but we're going to play a couple of hidden tracks." A further two songs later, the hour-long show clocked in at one hundred and five minutes, and a satisfied crowd walked out of the Bowery.

Some may have walked out with copies of the evening's show: apparently it had been taped, and was being burned to CD and sold at the end of the night, a trend we may be seeing more of in the future. But if you can't get your hands on a copy of Joseph Arthur's March 15th show, catch one live on his current tour.