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Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008
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Norah Jones is effortlessly flawless at McCaw Hall |
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| Norah Jones is effortlessly flawless at McCaw Hall | ||
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By: Richard Kennedy -
SGN A & E Writer Norah Jones June 29 @ McCaw Hall It's refreshing when a performer can stay grounded and true to their craft in spite of enormous success. Norah Jones is exactly one of those performers, and in recent interviews she has mentioned that in spite of the ability to fill arenas, she wants to do more intimate shows in theatres to showcase her music. With that in mind, she filled McCaw Hall last Friday for a tremendous return to Seattle. Just about every age was represented in the audience, and Gay and Lesbian fans of all types were scattered about. It was great to see everyone a little dressed up for the event too, more so than they would for a typical Key Arena show. The center of the stage illuminated with a single smoky spotlight shining down on the multi-Grammy winning songstress. Jones looked impeccable, even though she was going for casual with blue jeans and a black silk blouse with white polka-dots, all tied together with sassy red heels, bold red lipstick and her matching red guitar. Jones began the opening lines of "Come Away with Me" solo. After a few verses, the theatre lit up and The Handsome Band joined her for a slowed-down arrangement of the hit song. "Those Sweet Words" followed from her second successful album before she finally introduced some of the pieces from the new album Not Too Late. Songs like "You Are Not My Friend" and "The Sun Doesn't Like You" are melancholy but very touching. The giant cloth backdrops behind the band added to the moody songs by swirling around between numbers to give each one its own beautiful setting. Somewhere between perfection and moodiness is a very down-to-earth star. Jones joked at the beginning that the name of the hall made her unable to resist crowing "Mc-Caw, Mc-Caw" like a bird. It became a running joke throughout the night whenever the atmosphere needed to be lightened up. Country, bluegrass, jazz and artists like Hank Williams to Tom Waits inspire the 28 year-old musical chanteuse. One of her newest tracks, "Rosie's Lullaby" invokes the dreamlike feel of Waits with lyrics like "She walked by the ocean, and waited for a star to carry her away. Feelin' so small, at the bottom of the world, lookin' up to God." Later she did her trademark Williams cover, "Cold, Cold Heart" at the piano. A simple arrangement and sultry, longing vocals made for nothing less than perfection. Backed by a band that included a marimba, upright bass, and flute, she did have one particular musician that really stood out. Daru Oda joined Jones in the front for "Little Room" and the petite back-up singer/flutist actually whistled along with the vocals, sounding as close to an actual instrument than any human could. One of the more unusual instruments brought out was the toy piano which was placed on top of the dark-haired lead singer's grand piano for "My Dear Country." With it's obvious jabs at the president, "Who knows, maybe the plans will change, who knows, maybe he's not deranged," she was guaranteed an automatic crowd pleaser. Rather than it becoming a silly and anecdotal number, it became thoughtful and earnest even while she played her toy piano with one hand and the grand piano with the other while crooning, "I love the things you've given me, and most of all that I am free, to have a song that I can sing, on election day." Other fantastic covers were offered up towards the end with the up-tempo version of "I'm Going to Get You" originally sung by the Dixie Cups. When first introducing it, she joked with her fans, "What?! You thought I was going to say the Dixie CHICKS, didn't you?" A lesser known Willie Nelson song, "Hands on the Wheel" was added to the set before closing with the hit, "Creepin' In" The bluegrass song that pulls the consistent driving tempo of classic train songs ended with a downright guitar jam that is not featured on the album version. For encores, Jones provided a sultry rendition of CCR's "Green River" before ending with her biggest chart-topper, "Don't Know Why", perfectly summing up the evening. The song is rich with pining emotions, her voice is soft but compelling and the sound is masterfully constructed with a chorus wound around two verses. This Grammy winning number, along with everything she touches, is simplicity at it's best. |
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