![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Madeleine Peyroux
Oct. 15th, 2011 06:59 pmCyn and I took my dad and stepmom to see Madeleine Peyroux, for my dad's birthday. The show was at the Pabst Theater. Our tickets were in the third row of the orchestra pit, so we were looking up at the performers.
Nellie McKay opened the show. I had never heard her before, but found her performance quite enjoyable. She basically plays in what I'd call the style of 40's standards. It was a nice complement to Peyroux's music. Her delivery was naturalistic. She started out behind the piano, which belonged to Peyroux's band, and she had her back to the audience. Not being able to see her face, I didn't fully get her humor. For the latter part of her set, she came to center stage, to sing some songs with her ukelele. Her upbeat songs belied a cutting sarcastic humor, in some cases. Other songs were down-tempo love songs and laments. It was still a fun show.
Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer. Her style of singing is early 20th century, and her voice is often compared to Billie Holiday's. She had a four-piece band accompanying her and her acoustic guitar - keyboards, guitar, bass, drums. The show was very jazzy. Her vocals were rather exploratory - she seldom sang the tunes as they were known to the audience. This made it a little difficult for me to get into the songs. I would have been fine if she hadn't sung all her songs that way.
For her encore, she came back out with her guitar and with Nellie McKay. She sang a song in French, while Nellie "vocalized" a harmony.
Nellie McKay opened the show. I had never heard her before, but found her performance quite enjoyable. She basically plays in what I'd call the style of 40's standards. It was a nice complement to Peyroux's music. Her delivery was naturalistic. She started out behind the piano, which belonged to Peyroux's band, and she had her back to the audience. Not being able to see her face, I didn't fully get her humor. For the latter part of her set, she came to center stage, to sing some songs with her ukelele. Her upbeat songs belied a cutting sarcastic humor, in some cases. Other songs were down-tempo love songs and laments. It was still a fun show.
Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer. Her style of singing is early 20th century, and her voice is often compared to Billie Holiday's. She had a four-piece band accompanying her and her acoustic guitar - keyboards, guitar, bass, drums. The show was very jazzy. Her vocals were rather exploratory - she seldom sang the tunes as they were known to the audience. This made it a little difficult for me to get into the songs. I would have been fine if she hadn't sung all her songs that way.
For her encore, she came back out with her guitar and with Nellie McKay. She sang a song in French, while Nellie "vocalized" a harmony.
