About a month ago, I was listening to a Natalie Merchant album and thinking about how much I love her unique voice and all of her music, and it made me curious as to whether she was still touring. She hasn't really been on the charts since the 90s, but a lot of artists from that time still do concerts, so I wasn't sure. Well, I went to her website and discovered that she was doing a concert in Louisville on November 2nd! Immediately, I emailed Tom and asked if that could be an early birthday present for me this year (my birthday is over a month away); he went out, maybe even the following week, and got our tickets!
(complete with a common misspelling of our last name...)
We were up in the balcony, but the concert hall seating is at such a steep angle that we still felt fairly close to the stage. And no, I didn't take any pictures during the show. I'm too much of a rule-follower, I guess. I will, however, try to describe the show in as much detail as possible without boring you.
The concert was a double treat because it wasn't just Natalie Merchant; it was Natalie Merchant WITH the Louisville Orchestra. Now, for those who are familiar with her music, it might be hard to imagine any of her songs with a full orchestra instead of just piano and/or guitar. In the days leading up to the concert, I kept trying to imagine how it might sound, and I couldn't, so I just gave up trying, thinking "I like her, and I like orchestra music, so how bad could it be?" The answer is: not bad at all. The orchestra adapted each song so beautifully that Tom (who knows maybe one of her songs) said he'd have a hard time imagining some of the songs without an orchestra! They did some of her older songs like "Carnival," "She Devil," and my favorite, "Beloved Wife." No 10,000 Maniacs songs with the orchestra, though I'm sure those would have sounded great too. Most of the songs they played were from her most recent album, Leave Your Sleep, which is adaptations of children's poems, some well-known, some more obscure.
Ms. Merchant wore a modest black dress and mary-jane shoes to match the orchestra, but she inserted a bit of personality by also wearing bright purple tights. :) She looked pretty different from how I remembered her: Her hair was mostly grey, and she had more lines on her face (she just turned 50 last week)...but that voice. Oh, that wonderful voice! She sounded exactly the same as she did 20 years ago.
She also seemed so at-ease on stage. I guess that's inevitable, after being in the music industry for so long, but it was nice to see. She talked to the audience like she was hanging out with a really, REALLY big group of friends; and she danced and swayed (and even skipped, at one point!) all across the stage as she sang, as though she was completely lost in the music. After the orchestra left, leaving only the pianist and guitarist to accompany her, she really cut loose, singing every 70s pop song she could think of and encouraging the rest of us to sing along, while incorporating some of her popular songs that the orchestra didn't play, like "Wonder" and "Kind & Generous." And here she did pull out "These Are Days," from her time as the front-woman for 10,000 Maniacs.
It was a wonderful evening; I didn't want it to end. What a fabulous birthday present!
No comments:
Post a Comment