Brandi Carlile

I got all proud of myself in the last post about actually sticking with this blog so far. Now suddenly I'm four shows behind and haven't been doing my fair share of typity-typing. Got a couple good ones to talk about too. First up, a break from the theater stuff for a quick discussion of the wonder and glory that is a Brandi Carlile concert.

I first heard Carlile a few years ago when browsing iTunes. Her folk/country/rock vibe isn't what I usually listen to (think top 40 minus the whiniest and the whitest; yay to Ke$ha and Kanye, boo to the Arctic Fire Monkeys), but I'm also a sucker for female singers across genres who can really get under your skin (think anywhere from Erykah Badu now to Loretta Lynn ever). Point is, Brandi can blow. And there's a tremendous emotionality to her vocal delivery that gets me a little teary eyed.

And the lady knows how to put on a show with minimal glitz and maximum impact. I first saw her at Irving Plaza a few years ago. I had the flu and planned on catching three or four songs before cutting out. When she came to the front of the stage and belted out a song with no amplification at all to the suddenly pin-drop silent crowd, I knew I was in it for the long haul. I don't even mean the end of the show (a rollicking cover of "Folsom Prison Blues"). I mean the long haul as in fan-for-life.

Since then, I've seen Brandi at venues of increasing size up to the Beacon Theater. At Town Hall, she had the best acoustics I've heard for one of her New York shows, and she seemed so genuinely excited to be performing that I could have stayed forever. Because here's the thing...not only is she hugely talented; she also just seems so damned likeable. Touring with the same twin brothers she has for years, one of whom is married to her sister (who also made an appearance for a song), the vibe of her onstage persona is so familiar and familial. You almost get the sense that if you knocked on the stage door, she'd open it herself and invite you in for a drink. And as sad as many of her songs are, she's the first person to joke about them, good-humored enough to make you wonder where the songs come from, but so fully committed to each that you never doubt they're rooted in a very authentic place.

I will also say this: the bitch knows how to pick a cover. It takes nerve to tackle Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" when Cohen and Jeff Buckley each seemed to have perfect versions, but she still finds something fresh in it. And her version of Radiohead's "Creep" is astonishing.But this is totally besides the point since she steered clear of covers this time instead doing hits and new material. It hardly matters. The point is this: I have yet to see her do a show where I wasn't moved to tears at least once before being driven happily into the night. Town Hall was no different. She is the only singer out there I will drop anything to go see anytime she's in town because she just strikes a very personal chord. Which is the very long way of saying I have no objectivity when it comes to her and am pretty sure she can do no wrong.