This Side of the Blue

Last night was the show I've been looking forward to for a while. Joanna Newsom was playing with Smog at the Showbox.

I was surprised at the turnout. I mean, there was obviously some serious hype behind her epic new album, and there were feature articles about her in both of the Seattle altweeklies, but I wasn't expecting a sold-out, completely rapt crowd for a harp-wielding songstress with a voice like Olive Oyl. It's a voice you either love or hate, and usually you start out hating it before you love it. Last night's show demonstrated a new restraint though, and found her tempering her vocal quirks, using them to her advantage, rather than just letting them shine through unpolished.

Smog opened the show alone, with an acoustic guitar and that deep, haunting voice he's known for. It seemed like there was an extra depth to it that you don't always hear on record, and his long, drawn-out songs were mesmerizing in person.

But we didn't even know the meaning of drawn-out until Ms. Newsom took the stage, alone for the first few songs, then backed by a 5-piece band given the unenviable task of recreating dense orchestral arrangements with simple folk instruments. But they passed that test with flying colors. After her solo performance of a couple of highlights from her debut album, The Milk Eyed Mender, they proceeded to play through all 5 songs from Ys, in order, at their full lengths. It was surprisingly dynamic, with the accordionist perfectly filling the role of a string section, and guitars, banjos, drums, glockenspiel, and other instruments fleshing out the arrangements. Even the multi-voiced harmony that opens "Monkey & Bear" was flawless. "Cosmia" finished out the set, trailing off into a dramatic, blissed-out duet between harp and singing saw, peaking and then falling into silence as the last metallic scrapes rang out.

The audience response was incredible, between songs and after the main set. I've never heard a crowd resort so quickly to floor-stomping demands for an encore as I did last night. And thankfully, it was a short wait before she reappeared to play "Sadie," "Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie," and of course, "Peach Plum Pear," all unaccompanied.

I was on the wrong side of the stage, and only able to see her during the solo sections of the set, but I did manage to get half-decent footage of "Peach Plum Pear," which you should take a look at, if you're so inclined. If she hasn't already stopped in your city, make it a point to catch this tour.