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 Brandi Carlile has an unbelievable presence live. Her set is a treat full of strong vocals, breathtaking harmonies, and unbelievable surprises. She opened her set, as part of the VH1 You Oughta Know tour in Washington, D.C., with a
beautiful harmony sung by her and "the twins", who were on guitar and
vocals.
She continued with extraordinary fan favorites like "My
Song", "Turpentine", "The Story", and last, a cover of Leonard Cohen's
"Hallelujah".
Carlile did not let fans downeach song was bold,
high-energy, and deliciously well executed. Her vocal range and
strength is fantastic, which she
proved again and again throughout the night, most notably when she
and her band did a song unpluggedCarlile's voice reaching every ear
in the club.
She had numerous other surprises for the adoring audience
as well, including a story about UFOs and the introduction of her
grandfather's dobro.
For "Turpentine", she divided the audience into
three parts and she and the twins each taught a section the same
melody in a different octave. The crowd sounded beautiful and could be
heard even with the band playing.
Her humorous personality amplified
the quality of the evening, saying, "I was a little nervous to play
here 'cuz it's still light outside, so can we pretend like it's
midnight?"
Her energy increased as the band launched into a cover of
Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison", bringing the opening band, A Fine
Frenzy, to the balcony dancing. As dynamic and energetic as many of
Carlile's songs were, she knew how to slow it down as wellat times
her music was downright haunting.
For "That Year", she took center
stage solo, describing the suicide of a friend at age 16. It was
gorgeous and touchingthe lyrics "I guess you finally made the
yearbook that year," adding to the stirring quality of the song.
While
Carlile had the ability to bring tears to the eyes of her listeners,
her take on "Hallelujah" was less memorable. Expecting her strong
voice to lean towards wistful rather than harsh, as it had with her
piano "warm-up" of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", she added an edge to
the song that seemed to struggle against the beauty of the melody.
The opening act, A Fine Frenzy, maintained both musical
brilliance and charm. Singer and pianist Alison Sudol has a beautiful,
melodic voice and a charming personality.
On her visit to DC, she said,
This time we didnt get to see anything, but Im seeing a lot more
people, so that must be good, right? She has a wonderful giggle that
can be heard between every song, and occasionally within a song.
Her set was buoyant and energeticher vocal range incredible!
You can check out Brandi Carlile and A Fine Frenzy at:
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