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Posts Tagged ‘Radio City Music Hall’
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Radio City Music Hall - September 23, 2009
Thursday, September 24th, 2009A Legend Comes to Radio City
Monday, September 21st, 2009Aretha Franklin - Radio City Music Hall - September 18, 2009
(Photo: Mina K)
As we waited for Aretha Franklin to grace us with her presence at the sold-out Radio City Music Hall on Friday, her orchestra warmed up onstage. With a bevy of musicians and backup singers, this was a big production—the only kind befitting the Queen of Soul. When the singer appeared, looking regal in a floor-length black gown, the band wasted no time in vamping up the instantly recognizable opening bars of the Otis Redding classic “Respect.” It may be a jukebox staple, but there’s something magical and mind-blowing about hearing such a classic song performed live. “We’re going back now,” announced Franklin, as her set continued with vintage songs from her catalog including “Call Me,” “Baby, I Love You,” “Think,” and “Don’t Play That Song for Me.”
Franklin’s personality commands just as much attention as her music, and she enjoyed telling stories and throwing out the occasional one-liner. When she requested some water to be brought from backstage, Franklin joked, “And if you see a man back there, you can bring him too!” Despite these larger-than-life antics, there were more intimate moments in the show as well, as Franklin took a moment to acknowledge an old family friend in the crowd, reminiscing about memories they had shared.
Though, at times, criticism has a way of surfacing regarding the consistency of Franklin’s performances, her stage presence and vocal range were captivating, and there were many eruptions of spontaneous applause as she gracefully went from belting out a bright high note to a low, raspy growl. There should be no dispute: Aretha Franklin will always be the Queen of Soul, and it was a privilege to be one of the queen’s subjects on Friday night. —Alena Kastin
Still Captivating After All These Years
Friday, August 14th, 2009Tori Amos - Radio City Music Hall - August 13, 2009
Touring in support of her most recent album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, pianist and singer Tori Amos played only a handful of songs from the new record last night as part of her lengthy set at Radio City Music Hall. Though most performers relish the opportunity to test-drive new material and push aside older songs, Amos seems to live by the principle that as her repertoire expands, so shall the scope of her set list. And rightly so—there would be quite an outcry from her voracious fans should any old favorites suddenly be deemed obsolete.
In concert, Amos possesses not only the intuition to craft sets comprised of favorites, new and old, but the ability to truly inhabit her unique songs with a dynamic stage presence. From the show’s opener, “Give,” a pulsing, slow-burn of a song, which found Amos a bit reserved and brooding, to the exuberant crowd-pleaser “Cornflake Girl,” she even managed to fit in a heartfelt cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Throughout the show, Amos played up the more sensual elements of her songs, straddling her piano bench, kicking out a high-heeled foot, or gesturing suggestively, long red hair swirling down her back as she displayed her signature move of masterfully playing two keyboards simultaneously.
Although we’ve all come a long way since Amos’s 1991 debut album, Little Earthquakes, when she played the opening chords of “Precious Things,” the crowd’s overwhelming excitement proved that the song may be almost 20 years old, but it remains just as captivating now as it ever was. —Alena Kastin
Andrew Bird’s Big Sound Fills Radio City
Friday, June 19th, 2009Andrew Bird - Radio City Music Hall - June 18, 2009
(Photo: Cameron Wittig)
When the curtain was pulled back at Radio City Music Hall last night, there was a wizard standing there. A real wizard for once: Andrew Bird, with spirals of looping violin curling around his lone figure onstage summoning more and more sound and releasing it into the room until an echoing cacophony filled the chamber completely. His band joined him and this noise became “Sweetbreads,” and the wizard behind the curtain became Willy Wonka. In Wonka’s world, everything is edible. In Andrew Bird’s world everything makes music—hand claps, whistles, violin, xylophone, guitar and, of course, his voice all moving together in a complicated contra dance. I have seen several amazing shows at Radio City, but never have I seen the venue filled with music the way Andrew Bird did: perfectly coating the walls and arching ceiling.
And never have I seen an Andrew Bird show so dominated by his voice, which stood out more prominently than the band and the looping instruments, whistling and all. Through a set consisting mostly of new material, the majority off of this year’s Noble Beast, Bird coaxed his voice and his band, a bit stuttering at first, then more confidently. Things really gelled midway through with a majestic, wall-of-sound “Effigy” followed by a powerful “Nonanimal” and a rollicking “Fake Palindromes.”
As the set wound down, supporting act Calexico, in full—more guitars, pedal steel, xylophone and trumpets—joined Bird and Co. for a climactic one-two-three punch. The 11-strong ensemble took a big sound and made it even bigger, finally exploding with a highlight version of “Scythian Empire.” —A. Stein
© 2009
