Concert Review: Patricia O'Callaghan at KWCMS
melted_snowball and I caught a Thursday-evening concert at KWCMS, the Chambet Music Society. Neither of us had been to that concert space before. It was essentially a living-room attic with 80 chairs in it and good acoustics and lighting. The performers had good things to say about the high ceiling. It felt intimate, though not warm- while I was OK, d. was incredibly cold, and he didn't warm up much during the concert. But the woman sitting next to me said that usually it's much warmer and often too warm.
This was my third time seeing Patricia O'Callaghan sing. The first time, at Open Ears in the King Street Theatre, blew me away- it was all Leonard Cohen songs, and I liked them all more than Cohen's versions. The second time, at the Guelph Festival, was a large affair with a full band, and she sang a wider repertoire, which I liked about half of, but I bought two of her CDs. I just bought her third CD, and between them, I don't think I've heard her sing more than one or two songs that aren't on the CDs.
She sang well, I think. She was accompanied by a pianist and bassist, who make up her traveling backup band. The pianist had two solos by Poulenc, in the second half. The two sets had Cohen pieces mixed throughout: "Take this Waltz," "I'm your Man," "The Gypsy Wife," and an encore of "Hallelujah." These, and the Magnetic Fiends' "Book of Love," were my favourites, because I'm not so much a jazzy-cabaret kind of guy. The rest of the concert was roughly themed. Mostly Kurt Weill in the first set, in German and English. In the second set, French singers and composers in the first half (Piaf's "La Vie en Rose", Poulenc's "Hommage a Edith Piaf"), and three Ladino folk songs at the end.
Even though I'm not a jazzy cabaret kind of guy, I enjoyed the Weill and the Ladino songs (which she translated; some were amusing and I have a bit of context for the tunes on the CD now).
I loved the "living-room concert" feel; she has a stage-presence and I think she's attractive (if not traditionally so) And she was pointing directly at me during "I'm your Man" which is a fun gender-bendy image. ("Here I stand / I'm your man / If you want a boxer / I will step into the ring for you" as she makes a fist directly at me, four rows and 15 feet away...)
And the encore was what I hoped she'd play when it didn't appear on the program (she does have a beautiful voice for Cohen songs!)
We left into the frigid wind and came home and got under the covers.
This was my third time seeing Patricia O'Callaghan sing. The first time, at Open Ears in the King Street Theatre, blew me away- it was all Leonard Cohen songs, and I liked them all more than Cohen's versions. The second time, at the Guelph Festival, was a large affair with a full band, and she sang a wider repertoire, which I liked about half of, but I bought two of her CDs. I just bought her third CD, and between them, I don't think I've heard her sing more than one or two songs that aren't on the CDs.
She sang well, I think. She was accompanied by a pianist and bassist, who make up her traveling backup band. The pianist had two solos by Poulenc, in the second half. The two sets had Cohen pieces mixed throughout: "Take this Waltz," "I'm your Man," "The Gypsy Wife," and an encore of "Hallelujah." These, and the Magnetic Fiends' "Book of Love," were my favourites, because I'm not so much a jazzy-cabaret kind of guy. The rest of the concert was roughly themed. Mostly Kurt Weill in the first set, in German and English. In the second set, French singers and composers in the first half (Piaf's "La Vie en Rose", Poulenc's "Hommage a Edith Piaf"), and three Ladino folk songs at the end.
Even though I'm not a jazzy cabaret kind of guy, I enjoyed the Weill and the Ladino songs (which she translated; some were amusing and I have a bit of context for the tunes on the CD now).
I loved the "living-room concert" feel; she has a stage-presence and I think she's attractive (if not traditionally so) And she was pointing directly at me during "I'm your Man" which is a fun gender-bendy image. ("Here I stand / I'm your man / If you want a boxer / I will step into the ring for you" as she makes a fist directly at me, four rows and 15 feet away...)
And the encore was what I hoped she'd play when it didn't appear on the program (she does have a beautiful voice for Cohen songs!)
We left into the frigid wind and came home and got under the covers.