|
Setlist photo courtesy of John
Tour Dates
08/02/13 Lollapalooza
08/09/13 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues 08/10/13 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia 08/11/13 "Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival" 08/17/13 "V Festival" (Shropshire) 08/18/13 "V Festival" (Chelmsford) 08/28/13 Rumsey Playfield @ Central Park 08/30/13 House of Blues Boston, MA 08/31/13 "Budweiser Made In America" 09/01/13 "Budweiser Made In America" 09/29/13 Unity - London Read More We've been following Emeli Sandé's rise to fame for a while now. Since her TV performances at last year's Olympics, I've noticed a huge interest in her music from fans of Adele and Paloma Faith.
…
|
So a friend takes me to see Emeli Sandé tonight (Thurs., 8/1) at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. I hadn’t known anything about her (how’d I miss her?), but figured what the hell, I’ve been invited, why not? So I checked some of her youtubes a couple days before the show. Reminded me of Alicia Keys, whom I love, but my final verdict was: sure, Sandé can sing, but the music’s not my bag. Just got home from the show and am still singing that damn Next to Me song, can’t get it out of my head. I was on my feet clapping, dancing, singing … yep, you can sign me up for the Emeli Sandé fan club.
Well known local singer-songwriter Aby Wolf opened the show, her accompaniment supplied by local techno-beat mage, Grant Cutler. It was the kind of set you sat back and listened to: no standing, dancing or jumping around, just silently appreciating what Wolf can do with her voice and what Cutler can do with his tech-know-how. Seemed like a lot of reverb and echo for a voice that I happen to know doesn’t need any and without which more easily finds its way to my heart (if that’s a goal), but hey, if you elect to use your moment opening on a locally prestigious stage for a pretty big name headliner to experiment with different sounds, I say: good on you, baby, bring it! The audience served them up a lot of love. But nothing compared to the love showered upon Sandé (deservedly so).
Sandé sings like a pro, in a voice that soars, like it’s effortless, like she was born to sing, and yeah, she was, and yeah, she is a pro. Her band was damn fine too: a couple of backup singers behind her, bass player on the left, guitarist on the right, drummer in the back left, and in the back right, a keyboard player behind his L-shaped bar formed of two keyboards, where he served up some smooth tones that all happily consumed. Sandé’s piano stood on a platform at center stage, and when she sat down and played it, you listened.
Like when she performed the song River. People definitely shut the hell up and listened to that one:
While happily agoogle in the aftermath of this show, I discovered the song Crazy in Love, featured in the soundtrack of the recent remake of The Great Gatsby, and you know what? Shweeeet! She didn’t do it at this show—maybe no trumpet player was handy (and that’s kinda integral to this tune) or maybe the tune just didn’t fit her chosen programme for the show, but that’s okay, I forgive her, nobody could possibly gripe they were shortchanged at this show.
Sandé jumped around the stage, strutted, took her shoes off, and spoke lovingly to the audience, as if to a dear friend. She ladled out plenty of love to her bandmates too: brought the bass player up front to join her on a couple of tall stools for one number (when the high-heels came off), promoted the male backup singer to the foreground to sing a respectably lengthy opening to a tune, and introduced each band member by first name, as if to assure the audience: hey, we’re all on a first name basis here. It would be hard to find fault with any aspect of the show, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna try. On top of all the virtues listed above, this girl is just too damned adorable not to love. So check her out, you’ll be hearing more about her in future, that I promise.
Check her debut album, Our Version Of Events … you can download it, or individual singles from it, on emelisande.com. Emeli Sandé tour dates are listed on the sidebar—catch her if you can!
Well known local singer-songwriter Aby Wolf opened the show, her accompaniment supplied by local techno-beat mage, Grant Cutler. It was the kind of set you sat back and listened to: no standing, dancing or jumping around, just silently appreciating what Wolf can do with her voice and what Cutler can do with his tech-know-how. Seemed like a lot of reverb and echo for a voice that I happen to know doesn’t need any and without which more easily finds its way to my heart (if that’s a goal), but hey, if you elect to use your moment opening on a locally prestigious stage for a pretty big name headliner to experiment with different sounds, I say: good on you, baby, bring it! The audience served them up a lot of love. But nothing compared to the love showered upon Sandé (deservedly so).
Sandé sings like a pro, in a voice that soars, like it’s effortless, like she was born to sing, and yeah, she was, and yeah, she is a pro. Her band was damn fine too: a couple of backup singers behind her, bass player on the left, guitarist on the right, drummer in the back left, and in the back right, a keyboard player behind his L-shaped bar formed of two keyboards, where he served up some smooth tones that all happily consumed. Sandé’s piano stood on a platform at center stage, and when she sat down and played it, you listened.
Like when she performed the song River. People definitely shut the hell up and listened to that one:
I’d be smiling if I wasn’t so desperateIf you somehow hadn’t caught on to the fact that this was a songwriter, not just a singer, you kinda had that figured out by the end of River. Other notable tunes included Suitcase, Clown, My Kind of Love, and the evening’s finale: Next to Me (you know, the one still echoing in my head).
I’d be patient if I had the time
|
Emeli Sandé
photo courtesy of John
|
Sandé jumped around the stage, strutted, took her shoes off, and spoke lovingly to the audience, as if to a dear friend. She ladled out plenty of love to her bandmates too: brought the bass player up front to join her on a couple of tall stools for one number (when the high-heels came off), promoted the male backup singer to the foreground to sing a respectably lengthy opening to a tune, and introduced each band member by first name, as if to assure the audience: hey, we’re all on a first name basis here. It would be hard to find fault with any aspect of the show, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna try. On top of all the virtues listed above, this girl is just too damned adorable not to love. So check her out, you’ll be hearing more about her in future, that I promise.
“this is the best performance of the song I've ever heard.”
Earlier this year, Sandé performed Natural Woman at the White House in a tribute to Carole King. Jesse Goffin, someone who's heard the song all his life (his father co-wrote it with King) had this to say: “this is the best performance of the song I've ever heard.”
Check her debut album, Our Version Of Events … you can download it, or individual singles from it, on emelisande.com. Emeli Sandé tour dates are listed on the sidebar—catch her if you can!
|
Emeli Sandé at the Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis (08/01/13) photo courtesy of John
|
