Chris and I went downtown today to hear Eilen Jewell and her band play at Occidental Square. It was a toe tapping time that's for sure. Her voice is lovely; sometimes soulful and other times with just a hint of country twang. The lyrics of the tunes she writes are insightful and speak to the experience of down and out people. Take for example:"It's a Rich Man's World". She sang several tunes from her new cd Letters From Sinners and Strangers and of course I bought it. About the only negative I can say about her performance is that while her singing is beautiful she does not have any catchy patter in her introductions or between songs comments. Great music but not a lot of showmanship. But then again the 2 street people in the photo below were putting on a whole show all their own. It was actually hard at times to concentrate on the stage performance because of the scarf waving, warty backed guy in a purple kilt and his lobster skinned, shirtless friend dancing away in front of the stage. My husband says to me, "Did you see the eyes of the guy in the kilt? He's just plain crazy, bat shit crazy!" I do believe he was right. On one hand I felt sorry for them but then hey, they were all smiles and having a whole lot of fun dancing. Eilen and her band were really quite patient with the antics of these two men and one of their lady friends. She even honored two of their requests for Billie Holiday and Loretta Lynn songs.
The scarf dancer was also at the Solstice Parade....aren't you glad I didn't post buck naked photos of him?
4 comments:
You might consider grading Eilen's in-between song banter at a performance where there aren't two crazed men flailing and shouting at her. Its a bit different when she is not bracing herself for the next marble-mouthed, in-your-face reaction to virtually anything she says.
Oh yes, ANONYMOUS, I'm sure it would be a whole lot more relaxed if she were at venue where fans and friends had to pay to enjoy the experience. I'm certain I couldn't have done any better. There is no grade in my post. I was only commenting to the performance I attended. And once again, kudos to her for the way she did respond to the "crazed men". It was kind of ironic, I thought; some of her lyrics refer to down and out people and there right in front of the stage were two people who were truly scraping the bottom of the economic/social barrel.
They don't sound like country fans to me. Country fans are a repectful bunch. Rarely get out of hand and certainly not Loretta Lynn fans. She is old country. I think they were faux fans. LOL
Glad you enjoyed yourself anyway. It is always great to find a new singer of songs that you love. I remember the day I discovered Eva Cassidy. I am still blown away by her.
Love your sense of humor, Eve. now I am off to google Eva Cassidy!
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