Unless it's a
festival (SXSW, Fun Fun Fun Fest, etc.) I don't indulge in
"show reviews" anymore. There's just no point.
The world can very easily jump on Twitter/Facebook and see
the collective thoughts of mostly everyone in attendance
that night, and blogging/writing/whatever about it a few
days later has become somewhat of a dinosaur-like process.
With that being said, a show by Joanna Newsom is a special
occasion, and I couldn't let the chance to ramble about it
slip by.
The last time I
saw Joanna perform was in Houston at the Orange Show in
2006, and it absolutely amazed me. In fact, to this
day it's still my favorite show of all time (you can read
about in an incredibly poorly written post right
here) and it probably always will be.
Why? Because in a live setting Joanna is enchanting,
and at the Paramount this past Thursday she once again
showcased this.
There are three things that go in to making her shows so
great. The first is that where it could easily be the most
pretentious and stiff of experiences, Joanna and her band
keep it loose by being overly humble and surprisingly chatty
between songs. Wild yelling, random requests and
semi-strange crowd-to-band interactions - it all happens,
and somehow each bit is equally received by smiles by those
on stage.
I suppose the other two things could essentially be seen as
one, and it's the actual performance of the music by Joanna
and her band. Watching her play is kind of a marvel.
Her voice fills the room like nothing else, and when you
combine that with the beautiful sound of the harp you end up
left with something that entrances every single one of your
senses. It really is, for lack of a better word,
amazing. As for the folks that join her on stage, they
do such a great job of rearranging (to various degrees)
songs and supporting Joanna. Could she pull off a show
by herself? Sure, but having a diverse mix of
musicians with her allows for such a large amount of
interesting sounds and layers. It's actually a show
you could attend with no prior knowledge of anything, and
you would still come out with a great appreciation for the
music alone. Again, it's amazing, and you need to
experience it.
Joanna only has a few more dates in the US before taking a
jaunt overseas, so get on with making some plans to catch
her in a city near you.
:Joanna
Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear:
:Joanna
Newsom - Emily:
:Joanna
Newsom - '81:
- John Laird -
Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by
John Laird under a
Creative Commons License.
