Contrary to popular belief, I do occasionally step outside of my uptempo haven of 4/4 beats, mirrorballs, and parties with open Sparks bars. So, I went to check out Nina Nastasia's return to Washington, DC, after catching her back in New York at the Mercury Lounge in October with the Dirty Three's drummer, Jim White for the record release. It was to be noted that this was a "solo" show, meaning just Nina and her guitar, so it'd be interesting to hear her do some songs from her last album (which featured White's flawless drumming) with even more minimal arrangements. She played the Black Cat backstage which has a capacity of about 200, and I'd say around 60 people showed up for what was to be quite a powerful show.
Opening the show was local artist, Amy Domingues, of the Arlington, VA band Garland of Hours. It was just her, a cello, and a bunch of little gadgets to loop tracks. I'll be totally honest, she must've had an off night or something, because I thought her first song was really pretty and I thought her voice was interesting, but not long after the first 3 minutes of her nervous banter, badly timed loops, and her (at this point of the concert) annoying voice, I was SO over her. I guess I could see how people could be into her, but I just...wasn't. Not my thing.
Here's her MySpace for those of you who want to check her out.
There was a really quick turnover, and after about 3 trips to the Igloo cooler (I was PARCHED), I ran back over to grab my spot as the lovely Nina took the stage. She had a very unassuming presence to her when she first came on, with just her and her guitar and a little tuner at her toes, she ran through us with her engaging, raw material. If anything, listening to her albums you know that she excels when she's at her simplest. Not once during the show did I miss Jim's drumming or the occasional strings behind her. She commanded the tiny audience, and made us each characters in the storylines of her songs, bringing us with her to wherever she chose to take them. I only wish it lasted longer than an 70 minutes.
Setlist:
The Day I Would Bury You
I've Been Out Walking
Jim's Room
Lee
Our Day Trip
I Write Down Lists
In the Evening
There Is No Train
Brad Haunts A Party
Dumb I Am
Been So Long
Odd Said the Doe
Our Discussion
That's All There Is
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Stormy Weather
All For You
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As an added bonus, because I really love this woman, here are five songs of hers for you to download. One from each album, each one is amazing. If you're interested, I'd start with either the latest one, "You Follow Me" or "The Blackened Air". All of them are phenomenal, those are the easiest to get into.
"Stormy Weather" (from Dogs) [zShare]
"This Is What It Is" (from The Blackened Air) [zShare]
"I Say That I Will Go" (from Run to Ruin) [zShare]
"Counting Up Your Bones" (from On Leaving) [zShare]
"I Write Down Lists" (from You Follow Me) {mp4 format} [zShare]
Nina's MySpace. Nina's website.
1 comment:
PARCHED!
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