Feist @ Hammerstein Ballroom: Hi-Def Is the End of Sexiness

I must admit that I was skeptical about seeing Feist again, now that's a huge success and supply & demand dictates that she play large venues. One of the main ideas of music snobbery is that an artists is always better before he or she becomes popular. Then you can say, "Well, I saw her back in the day where she was playing Knitting Factory," like I did just now.

Here's the deal, gang. Good music deserves to be heard by as many people as possible. If soccer moms and people who don't live and breathe indie music discover her through an iPod ad, so be it. Nothing you and I can do about that. Feist is a great singer and unbelievable talent and it was only a matter of time before people caught on.

With that said, this is my fourth time seeing Feist since 2005 and it was by far the best she's ever sounded and played. With her delicate voice combined with the vocal riffs she sprinkles into her songs, she embracing the new attention, while remaining true to the person I saw back in Knitting Factory when Let It Die probably sold 10,000 copies tops.

The difference now with her shows is that she can ad more artistic elements, which included some low-tech art projections. You got simple drawings being created on the spot that was blown up for the back of the stage. Then, there was some abstract puppetry that set the tone for some of her more mellow songs. Now that's a good job to have on a tour -- make drawings, move shadow puppets and hold light bulbs for Feist.

The music is really the constant with her live shows. She still likes to break out the looping pedals and muted microphones during her set. "Sea Lion Woman" from The Reminder has become sort of her big finale with everyone in the band clapping and yelling to the beat. Obviously, "1234" is her calling card now, and she gives that her all. I'm still of the belief that Let It Die is more enjoyable album for me, being that I am child of the AM Gold/Singer-Songwriter era of the 70s. That album with the slight disco ballads, muted horns, electronic flourishes still has a soft spot for me. She's dropped the Bee Gees cover of "Inside and Out" from the setlist, in favor of Sarah Harmer's "Open Window" and boyfriend Kevin Drew's "Fucked-Up Boy".

I've never seen her so spunky and goofy before. She went on for five minutes singing people's names for the whole alphabet. Must be that Canadian sense of humor. With all her funny quirks, it shows that she wants to make these large rooms as intimate as possible. With this 4,000+ crowds in New York (motto: City of Endless Distractions), she needs to hold their attention the whole time when breaks out the quiet torch songs like "Let It Die" and "The Water".

When I was reading BrooklynVegan commentors (a fine lot indeed) about how Tuesday's crowd were a bunch of yappers, I was prepared for that. I was separated from the crowd, so I didn't think it was egregious. Hammerstein holds about 4,000 and you're going to get the majority being people who don't go to shows on a normal basis. The only thing you can do is mock them for afar online.

Anyway, there are so many good things for Leslie in becoming a household name. If people discover her work with Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and Gonzalez, that's a good thing. More importantly, new material can be interesting. I'm hoping she rocks out a little more and goes more into the alt-country vein that was hinted at in "I Fell It All".

As per usual, Feist prefers dim lights for her shows. It's all mood for lovers out there.

Previously:

• An early post from me when I didn't know how to write a blog, and I'm missing the photos from the 2005 Knit Factory show. *blush*
• Feist played Webster Hall back in the day with Mates of State and Jason Collett.
• Moving on up to Town Hall last year.

Comments

[andrew]

Did you see her on Colbert?

[frederic Hathaway Chase III]

Do you know the setlist?