10.13.2010 - Brandi Carlile
October 18, 2010
S.P.A.C.E.
Evanston, IL
So when a rather rare opportunity to see a tiny acoustic show by an artist who has been busy doing things like co-headling with The Avett Brothers at the Nokia Theater in LA and playing Radio City Music hall with Sheryl Crow comes up – you take it. Luckily we got tickets when we did, because this show sold out very quickly. First – the venue… S.P.A.C.E. (Society for the Preservation of Arts and Culture in Evanston) is in Evanston, IL – a college town just north of Chicago. Evanston is home to Northwestern University, and a fantastic town to spend a day walking around and shopping in if you ever get the chance. Plenty of shops, restaurants, and great ambiance. The venue itself is pretty neat too. In fact, we drove right by it the first time not even recognizing it. No lighted marquee here – just a non-descript building that looks like an old bank. We finally noticed the lettering on the window identifying the place. Upon entering, you’re first greeted with a wood fire grill where some delicious pizzas are baked. There is also a large bar and some comfortable seating in the front of the venue. It’s like an upscale pizza joint I guess, that just happens to have an amazing concert venue in the back. The way the tables were set up in S.P.A.C.E. made it such an intimate setting – more like a “listening room” than a rowdy concert venue.
We got in line 2 hours prior to doors opening because we weren’t lucky enough to secure table seats, but had been told that there would be some first-come first-serve seating around the venue. Turned out to be a good plan – we got some great seats (not that there would have really been a bad seat in the house!). Katie Herzig opened the evening. You’ve probably read our reviews of her shows before, and already know we’re huge fans. It was amazing to hear the way everyone was completely silent during their set – I think the listening room setup made an impression on people, and most were on their best behavior throughout the entire evening. The Katie Herzig Trio played some of our favorites, such as “Forevermore”, “Hologram”, and “Shovel”.
Of course it was then Brandi Carlile’s turn to take the stage. As has become the norm, cellist Josh Neumann opened the set with an amazing solo taking full advantage of the loop pedal. That was followed by “Oh Dear”, with the entire band huddled around one mic harmonizing together. This hasn’t been making its way into set lists lately – it was a welcome return for us. This was followed by a story from Brandi about being pick-pocketed in Starbucks earlier in the day by a fake old lady. On the up side, she mentioned that her credit cards have had a travel hold on them for a month or so and she hasn’t been able to use them because she’s too impatient and doesn’t want to wait long enough when calling the card companies, so the “old lady” wouldn’t be able to use them either! “Again Today” was up next, and this was really the only song where I could tell Brandi was, as she mentioned, at the tail-end of a cold. Great to hear this hidden song from the first album live again.
“Downpour” was also a highlight of the night. We hadn’t heard this one live before, and it was interesting to hear Brandi tell the story of why she wrote it (5 years ago, her parents were having their 25th anniversary and she was going to have to be out on the road and really missed them – she mentioned she’s always been a “daddy’s girl”. Turned out, something got cancelled and she was able to make it home for their party.). “Dying Day” was also fantastic, even if Brandi claimed it wasn’t such an amazing feat to play completely unplugged in such a tiny venue. As another treat, the band played “Way to You” from their Valentine’s Day EP “XOBC”. One of my all-time favorite Brandi Carlile songs. That was followed by an amazing cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”.
When it came time for what Brandi has termed the “fake encore”, she mentioned that they didn’t really have anywhere to go if they left the stage, so instead of pretending the set list didn’t continue, they would just stay on stage while the crowd cheered, then play a few more songs. First up were the twins, Tim and Phil Hanseroth, singing Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence”. Brandi has it right when she says they just sound so “twinny”! Such great harmonizing. Katie and band returned to sing “Wish You Well” with everyone on stage. This is such a great song, and only gets better the more artists that are up on stage singing it. Brandi closed the show with a ridiculously good (and not at all cheesy) cover of Alphaville’s “Forever Young”, playing the piano accompanied by Josh on cello.
It was a really great performance by both bands. The intimate setting seemed to lend itself to them acting a little goofy – at one point, Brandi was messing with Alli and playing her cymbal with the headstock of her guitar, Brandi was play-kicking her cymbal, and when Josh grabbed a tambourine to play during “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, Brandi said “Show us your moves, Josh”, and he shook his hips and cracked the entire band up. Brandi said that every once in a while between bigger shows, they make it a point to play a small venue in a small town as an experiment, and she said the experiment has proven that they love these small shows so much that they will always make it a point to play them – more music to the ears of Brandi Carlile’s fans.
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