Ripe Rings In New Year With Hometown Concert At Boston’s Roadrunner

Ripe rang in the New Year with a neon homecoming at Roadrunner in Boston that celebrated a truly breakout year for the Boston-based septet with a two-set performance that took little time getting up to speed but really took off past midnight. The funk/pop outfit got its start at the Berklee College of Music and has spent the better part of the last five-plus years building a fan base across the country thanks to an infectious sound and a live show that’s next to impossible to walk away from without a smile beaming across your face.

The night before New Year’s Eve, Ripe performed a sold-out set at Roadrunner’s smaller sibling venue in Cambridge, The Sinclair, where they performed the entirety of their first album. Prior to their set the following night, their audience was treated to a performance by Neighbor, another Boston-area act that includes Richard James, keyboardist of Pink Talking Fish. Lucky for Neighbor, their hosts were generous, giving them a 75-minute opening slot highlighted by an instrumental version of Joe Cocker’s take on “With A Little Help From My Friends,” which featured their guitarist playing the song’s vocal melody instrumentally, putting a unique twist on a song that’s already been covered to death.

Ripe took the stage for the first of their two sets wearing bright, color-coded suits in line with their request for fans to show up dressed in neon. The seven-piece has a dope rhythm section and a pair of horn players who bring the heat but the heart and soul of Ripe resides in frontman Robbie Wulfsohn and guitarist Jon Becker. Wulfsohn is the effortlessly charismatic frontman every funk band dreams of whose connection with his audience and preternatural comfort under the spotlight allows Ripe to be so much more than “just a funk band.”

For his part, guitarist Jon Becker is a certifiable rock star with instrumental chops and an on-stage persona just begging for a bigger crowd. Becker dances around the stage with his guitar strapped on, demonstrating a confident swagger that’s backed up with the kind of instrumental prowess you’d expect from a guitar student who attended the same program as the likes of John Mayer and Susan Tedeschi. An early highlight of the night was a surprise cover of Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 hit, “Since U Been Gone,” which saw the crowd singing so loud they overtook the venue’s PA system.

The band took a set break and came back a few minutes before midnight at which point they rang in the new year with a ball drop and a short-but-sweet “Auld Lang Syne,” that was immediately followed by a cover of Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.”

The song may have been the sole hit of a one-hit-wonder over 25 years ago, but the performance elicited a powerful singalong from an audience who seemed to vibe with the message. 2023 was the hottest year on record. There are ground wars in the Middle East and Europe and with the post-COVID landscape just beginning to show its true face, it’s fair to say that the past year wasn’t an easy one. The anathematic chorus, “I get knocked down/But I get up again/You’re never gonna keep me down,” champions a message of resilience and an assurance that we’ll make it out of the darkness and into the light which is something that carried deeper meaning than most folks ever expected to find in the 1997 radio hit.

Their take on The Kinks’ “Lola” brought an aggressively in-pocket swagger to the classic rock song but the absolute highlight of the night was their take on Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter,” which allowed both Wulfsohn and Becker to shine their absolute brightest. The song originated as a B-side but has gone on to be the tune Pearl Jam has ended more concerts with than any other, showcasing Hendrix-esque guitar leads courtesy of Mike McCready and vocals that have kept Eddie Vedder’s heart on his sleeve for over 30 years. These factors didn’t just provide the guitar/frontman duo an opportunity to show off their skill sets, but truly shone a light on the interplay between the two that serves as the foundation upon which everything Ripe has done has been built.

The release of Ripe’s sophomore album, Bright Blues, made 2023 a landmark year for the act, so they had plenty to celebrate. With that said, if their New Year’s Eve show accomplished anything, it was building justifiable hype for what they stand to accomplish in the year ahead.