|
indie-snob>+!#
Norah jones @ ravinia (7-8-03)
With richard julian |
Norah Jones is an artist to be respected and appreciated for true talent, more than I can say for most artists with that many Grammys. I was introduced to her voice ages ago, when my friend let me borrow Come Away With Me shortly after its release and a wee bit before "Don't Know Why" even debuted on MTV2's Handpicked collection. Her silky whispers are sweet but not pristine and linger in your mind. In fact, there's something so personal about Norah's voice that just leaves you feeling so calm and comforted even after a short listening session with the starlet. Even despite the tremendously strange venue (to give you an idea, it was full of middle-aged suburbanites who had brought with them a tremendously large collection of chairs, tables, blankets, wines and cheeses. Trees were labelled with their species name and Wolfgang Puck has a cafe on site along with a Borders carrying products related to the artist), Norah and the band really shined. Opening for her was a singer/songwriter by the name of Richard Julian. Only accompanied by an acoustic guitar, his fingerpicking was something to be marvelled it, perhaps creating some of the most lush acoustic guitar sounds I've heard. However, his vocals were tremendously stale, sounding as if he was just woken up from a long nap of death. Plus, his lyrics were so uninspired and flowing, that sometimes I just had to chuckle. There wasn't really a melodic quality about his songs. Great guitar playing though. Norah Jones opened up with "Cold, Cold Heart," a Hank Williams number and one of my favorite songs off Come Away With Me. Norah had a tremendously "cute" quality on stage, one of the more charasmatic young singers I've seen. Honestly, I didn't know how few songs were actually her own, as most of the night was playing songs by other people, or at closest, her bass player. Norah even played an AC/DC cover, which still managed to sound distinctly Norah. Overall, she seemed a bit intimidated by the big venue, which spanned out vastly from the Pavillion seating. Nonetheless, her jazzy tunes were beautiful and strangely atmospheric for the evening. The star player of her band was definitely her guitarist, though, who would burst into solos and really added a lot to the overall show. Her two singles sounded beautiful live, as did every thing else she played, including the cover of a song by the Band (yes, that 70s band called the Band). It was a nice performance. Very relaxing. Perhaps not a live show I'd recommend completely, as it could get a little boring. But if you're fan enough to hear 80 minutes of Norah, then it's probably worth it. |