September 15, 2007

Feist

"The way you get to Carnegie Hall is to practice, practice practice!"

Leslie Feist said this to the crowd, in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Hall, as she began to lead us in singing three part harmony in accompaniment. Clearly, though, she and her merry band of multiinstrumentalists have done their time in the woodshed.

Like her studio work, the live show brought in a little of everything to the sound, without sounding deliberate, derivative, or inorganic. They were both loose and polished, in the best way bands can sound when they both know their shit and have fun playing it. I kept trying to pin down the "that reminds me of..." feeling, but it never stuck in just one place. Slick and cool like old Joe Jackson here, something very bossa nova there, a little Margo Timmons (but not too much), and even some sticky-floor club. Ultimately I left thinking that Feist reminds me a lot of Marisa Monte, my favorite Brazilian vocalist, with a rich and bell-like voice, which can take on a slight smokiness and that moves across genres from jazz to samba to pop to indie rock. Feist's voice was amazing, just as supple and light as can be, but with just the teeniest rough edge of real.

In addition to turning the crowd into the Pittsburgh Tabernacle Choir, Feist also transformed us into a forest full of birds (and one smart ass, eh, chicken or something). She used vocal looping to sing with a chorus of herself, harmony, melody and chorus. She even turned Sea Lion Woman into a rocker, something that would not have occurred to me listening to more traditional recordings (track 18).

I can't not write about the "nice" thing either. One does not have to be Canadian to be unassuming, polite, and good-humored. However Feist and the band just radiated niceness. Some poor guy in the front row fell asleep (which, in an unairconditioned, closely packed, opera theater, sit-down show, was not completely out of the realm of the possible), and a few people in the balcony yelled at Feist to wake him up. With kindness in her voice, she hushed them, and said that maybe he's not getting "the good sleep" at home, and offered that since she sings lullabyes, it's no wonder people get relaxed, and that maybe the band should offer pillows too. A few songs later, the keyboard player came out with a cup of coffee, got down off the stage and gave it to the sleepy man, commenting that he didn't realize exams had already started, and later on said that it was a "endless cup" with plenty of free refills. Easily this banter could have been sarcastic, and "laughing at" rather than "laughing with," but the mood was intimate, familiar and sweet, right down to when Feist introduced the guitar tech, her "little brother."

It's been ages since I've been to a sit-down show with assigned seats. And it was kind of odd to be in a cushy-seated palace, surrounded by skinny hipsters* in skinny jeans, leggings, and artfully "mussed" hair, for a rock show. I won't say the show was like floating on a fluffy cloud, but it was a great, mostly downtempo show, that left me feeling warm and happy all the way home.

Update: Boosted from comments, Moon found a clip of Secret Heart from the show.

*Aside from the very large, sweaty, alcohol-smelling man sitting next to me - who at one point I thought was masturbating vigorously until I figured out he was merely suffering from a very unfortunate itch and then later had his hand down the back of his pants for most of the standing encore ...

Posted by binky at September 15, 2007 05:43 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Music


Comments

When I knew you'd be posting this, I imagined I'd add a lengthy comment of my own to whatever you wrote, but I really don't have much to add as it turns out, as you conjure the scene perfectly.

I will mention, vis-a-vis hipsters in a sit-down show, that my one complaint about the show was having to sit in the balcony behind a guy who was easily 6' tall yet insisted not only on wearing his trucker hat the duration of the show, but also in frequently turning sideways to look around, and in general failing to sit still (I had the distinct impression that he was there 'cause his girlfriend dragged him), forcing me to constantly move my head around to see the stage.

Also, while Secret Heart isn't my favorite song by any stretch of the imagination, it's the one thing on Youtube as of now from the Pittsburgh show (and in fairness I liked it more live than I do on "Let It Die;" and I loved the "sticky floor club" banter). More searching on Youtube also will reveal lots of live performances, including variations on her audience harmonizing.

Posted by: moon at September 15, 2007 07:14 PM | PERMALINK

What balcony were you in? Lower or higher? I can't believe that you weren't sitting close to me!

And great clip find!

Posted by: binky at September 15, 2007 11:15 PM | PERMALINK

first balcony, back row, on the left side of the left aisle (my left, facing the stage). i was also pretty frustrated by the cacophany that went on most of the show as the folks in the cavernous lobby broke down the temporary bar, etc. maybe for a louder show it wouldn't have been an issue, but it was noisy enough down there during the show that i've been thinking about writing a little letter along the lines of "for $35, i think you all can wait to do that s*&t until after the show." of course, to facilitate a clean exit for 2,000 people, they really can't wait, but i just sort of feel like being an angry, irrational consumer for a change. lord knows i've dealt with them enough over the years.

Posted by: moon at September 16, 2007 02:01 AM | PERMALINK
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