[ATTENDED, July 8, 2014] An Evening with Natalie Merchant
Most of the shows that Sarah and I go to are for bands that I, or more often we, like. We have very similar tastes in music, although I veer off in one way (extreme noise and metal) and she veers off in other ways (country). So although I am usually on the look out for bands that I want to see, I know that there are artists that she would love to see as well. And that’s where Natalie Merchant comes in.
I really liked 10,000 Maniacs, although by the end of their time, I felt like they were perhaps a bit too preachy. When Merchant’s Tigerlily came out I mis-heard “Carnival” as “Carnivore” I thought it was a pointedly vegetarian song (and nobody needs that, frankly). So although I liked some of the songs on the album, I didn’t really seek it out.
But Sarah loved Tigerlily and Ophelia, and I grew to enjoy them over the years as well. Although neither one of us listened much to her output since then (which is actually four albums, including a new one which was released in May). Suffice it to say that I knew fewer songs at this show than at any concert I’ve been to in a long time.
Having said all that, Merchant puts on a good show. First off, her voice sounds amazing. It’s instantly recognizable as hers and she can still hit all of the notes (not that she does many high notes) with the richness and fullness that I know of her. I was immediately impressed with how great she sounded. Also, the band sounded great too. She had a small string section (two violin, a viola and an upright bass), a drummer, a keyboardist and a guitarist. While some credit goes to the State Theatre’s acoustics (we were in the very top section of cheap seats), the strings sounded wonderfully lush and the drums in particular sounded great. The one drawback is that we could barely see her–I couldn’t see he face at all really, although I did enjoy seeing her long gray hair spinning around her head. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 