Arts

Regina Spektor concert

Regina Spektor wowed audiences on Tuesday the 22 of September. At 8PM, the Orpheum Theatre was filled with excitement. She proceeded to lead the predominantly female audience through her new CD “Far” while still playing old favorites for her first two albums.

The opening band Little Joy was, as Regina later said, a “great joy.” The layers of vocals blended beautifully with the guitars. The heavy drums kept the highly layered music going. Out of the ten song set “With Strangers” a Spanish inspired ditty was a high point. They ended strong with, “Don’t Watch Me Dancing,” which started with the female vocalist singing a lilting melody accompanied by bells and then grew to a large ending. Coming all the way from Los Angeles, this was Little Joy’s final show on the tour.

After the audience’s ears were warmed up by Little Joy, Regina Spektor took the stage. She started with “the Calculation” with her backup band comprised of a cello, violin, and drums. The audience took any quiet moment to shout out “I love you Regina!” Lighting got quite exciting during songs like “Machine”, and “80’s Dance Anthem” where she forgoes the piano to play a synthesizer.

When Spektor’s quirkiness took over in songs like “That Time” the audience loved her all the more. As she came to the lyrics regarding “boxes of tangerines, so cheap and juicy,” everyone sang along. Although the songs from Begin to Hope were few and far between, the crowd responded more to the familiar tunes.

The musicianship was apparent when Spektor played drums with one hand and piano with the other during “Poor Little Rich Boy.” Her piano was played with an almost frantic energy beneath her vocals. As well as piano, drums, and synthesizer the artist also played a blue guitar.

Spektor said that her final song was, “The Moon of One Thousand Faces”, but after that lilting ballad, she performed five encore numbers in reaction to the standing ovation. Spektor appeared to be as happy to be there as the audience, if a little surprised by her fame when she said, “you’re so nice to me!”

The encore started with Samson, a song referencing the biblical story of Samson. It was requested earlier by a particularly loud audience member. The next song she played was Fidelity a hit from her 2006 album “Begin to Hope”. This was followed by two more numbers, one of which was “Us.” Spotlights shown on a disco-ball that created a star-like effect.

The night took a strange turn when Spektor took out a shofar in honor of her Jewish upbringing and the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. The ram’s horn is a traditional Jewish instrument played on the high holy days, which are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It took her a few minutes, but she was able to play a few notes on the horn.

At the very end of the night, she smiled and said, “We’re going to do a country song because that’s of course what happens.” Ready to accept the odd decision, the audience grooved to a country number many had not heard before. The violinist playing with her sang along as he got into fiddling. Spektor had found the perfect end to an effortlessly entertaining night.

© 2009 The Daytime.