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Natalie Merchant at the Taft
9:30. Intermission. She came out wearing a black/ silver duster that, from my vantage in the stratosphere, made her look quite matronly. Her hair is silvery-grey, thick and wavy, and past her mid-back. She moved around some, but then the song didn't warrant her whirling dervish norm. Beautiful traditional folk song, I think. First song over, she ditched the duster, revealing a beautiful dusty blue wrap blouse and a full black circle skirt. For the third song, she ditched the ballet flats and the dancing and movement continued.
Some lovely and fun stage banter. Backup singer well-matched vocally but towering over her in her 2+ inch heels.
Natalie's voice has definitely matured, in the same way Ani DiFranco has. 40 years in the biz, it's crazy to think she would still should 16. I thought she was a "few" years older than me - she turns 60 in October.
She gave us an Intermission because as we age, she said, we need to stretch and things start to hurt, and other urgent needs. much laughter ensued with that last comment
Two of the last songs were aphrodite and wonder, which had half the house on their feet singing and dancing. My aisle seat means I can still see the stage.
nice lengthy intermission, enough to pound out the above on my phone. she had a costume change to a black wrap blouse of the same style (and it looked good on her, so why not), with a red pleated skirt and sheer white flowy duster like before, but not so heavy and upholstery-like.
she opened the 2nd half with River, which was a sucker-punch i was NOT expecting. three or four songs later, when she launched into Life Is Beautiful, I burst into tears. i knew it'd come eventually (not the song, but i had hoped she'd play that or Jezebel). another song or two, then everyone left the stage again. she even warned us that things end. Lots of time spent bantering with the front rows, which was good to see. an artist of her caliber doesn't always play with the audience. someone came and turned off the stand lights for the strings, but the house lights were still down, so I knew there was more. A song with just Natalie, a guitar and accordion was lovey, then bass and drums came back for another four songs - FIVE SONG ENCORE! Carnival, Kind and Generous, and she ended with These are Days, which brought the 2nd round of tears for very different reasons (Spring 1995. Absecon, NJ. more later). prior to ending she made a joke about doing a 3 hour show, "you know who does a three hour show? Springsteen does a three hour show. *something something* Natalie Merchant does a three hour show!"
once the house lights came up, it wasn't two minutes before the stage was fully lit, the backdrop lifted, and teardown began. I joke that they'd be out of the building before I was. so. many. stairs! I knew that going in, but I also didn't anticipate being in this much pain. in my car at 11pmish - three hour show!
Getting to the Taft was easy -- it's on 5th street, which is one of the exits in Cincy. pre-paid for parking at the lot on that same block which had me a reserved spot (that i didn't realize until after i'd parked, but he was cool with it). getting home was easy, too, minus the asshole drivers. Bogarts in August is going to be the tough one.
Some lovely and fun stage banter. Backup singer well-matched vocally but towering over her in her 2+ inch heels.
Natalie's voice has definitely matured, in the same way Ani DiFranco has. 40 years in the biz, it's crazy to think she would still should 16. I thought she was a "few" years older than me - she turns 60 in October.
She gave us an Intermission because as we age, she said, we need to stretch and things start to hurt, and other urgent needs. much laughter ensued with that last comment
Two of the last songs were aphrodite and wonder, which had half the house on their feet singing and dancing. My aisle seat means I can still see the stage.
nice lengthy intermission, enough to pound out the above on my phone. she had a costume change to a black wrap blouse of the same style (and it looked good on her, so why not), with a red pleated skirt and sheer white flowy duster like before, but not so heavy and upholstery-like.
she opened the 2nd half with River, which was a sucker-punch i was NOT expecting. three or four songs later, when she launched into Life Is Beautiful, I burst into tears. i knew it'd come eventually (not the song, but i had hoped she'd play that or Jezebel). another song or two, then everyone left the stage again. she even warned us that things end. Lots of time spent bantering with the front rows, which was good to see. an artist of her caliber doesn't always play with the audience. someone came and turned off the stand lights for the strings, but the house lights were still down, so I knew there was more. A song with just Natalie, a guitar and accordion was lovey, then bass and drums came back for another four songs - FIVE SONG ENCORE! Carnival, Kind and Generous, and she ended with These are Days, which brought the 2nd round of tears for very different reasons (Spring 1995. Absecon, NJ. more later). prior to ending she made a joke about doing a 3 hour show, "you know who does a three hour show? Springsteen does a three hour show. *something something* Natalie Merchant does a three hour show!"
once the house lights came up, it wasn't two minutes before the stage was fully lit, the backdrop lifted, and teardown began. I joke that they'd be out of the building before I was. so. many. stairs! I knew that going in, but I also didn't anticipate being in this much pain. in my car at 11pmish - three hour show!
Getting to the Taft was easy -- it's on 5th street, which is one of the exits in Cincy. pre-paid for parking at the lot on that same block which had me a reserved spot (that i didn't realize until after i'd parked, but he was cool with it). getting home was easy, too, minus the asshole drivers. Bogarts in August is going to be the tough one.