Joshua Radin performs his opening set at The Showbox on Sunday night.

Who: Joshua Radin and Missy Higgins

Where: The Showbox (at the Market)

When: Sunday, November 2

It’s always my fear that acoustic sets will get boring; we’ve all seen in happen before, when the artist minimizes his involvement in the performance and fails to captivate anyone by doing little other than strumming a guitar.

Luckily, there was no need for that fear at last night’s show. Besides being plenty talkative between songs, watching Radin practice his art of “whisper rock” was thrilling. The dulcet tones of his voice were as good as I could have hoped, and the subtleties of his picking were beautiful to hear but entrancing to watch.

The performance was even more enjoyable because the audience genuinely wanted to hear. When a bottle was dropped at the bar, a wave of “shhh’s” rippled out into the crowd. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard “shhh” so much at a concert in my life — but it was completely fitting and encouraging for Radin.

Ending the set by wading into the crowd with his guitar was awesome, but choosing to play Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” completely unplugged — the first song he ever learned on the guitar — was absolutely poetic.

Missy Higgins performs her headlining set at The Showbox on Sunday night.

To be honest, I wasn’t even really planning to stick around for Missy Higgins’ set, but I found myself captivated by her presence. Her strong voice and pure melody conveyed a distinct depth and soul. I’m glad I did too: Radin came on stage at one point for a duet of mutual performer favorite Patty Griffin’s “Long Ride Home.”