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".

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 well—at 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 touching—the 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 didn’t get to see anything, but I’m 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 energetic—her vocal range incredible!

You can check out Brandi Carlile and A Fine Frenzy at:

• www.brandicarlile.com

• www.afinefrenzy.com

---

Comments

Add New Search RSS

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."