Anticipating Spektor's arrival to the Bay Area

Oct 4

By Jeff Pettriello

(U-WIRE) NEW YORK -- The bright-eyed and bushy-haired Regina Spektor took the stage of New York's Town Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 27, returning to her native city and continuing her ambitious tour with as big a smile as ever.

The twenty-something singer-songwriter appeared with her head bowed, oozing humility in her simple black dress, which reflected her particular sort of careless elegance right down to her bright red boots, a quirky combination evocative of her musical style.

Armed with only a piano up until her latest studio album, Spektor writes simple, lovely pop songs about anything and everything -- from black dress break-ups and overdoses to red-booted Regina-sauruses and friendships with pickles.

It was no surprise, then, that the crowd turned out to be filled with as many skinny-jeaned adolescents as it was with enamored older couples. People relate easily to Spektor's earnest attempts to chronicle the details.

She began the show as she has in the past, with a potentially unending number of solo piano works (she once played the Bowery Ballroom for almost three hours, realizing it only after being called out for an encore). On Wednesday night, however, both the size of the venue and the seated audience had a noticeable effect on her performance.

The silence seemed to come not from Spektor's contagious charm alone, but also from the help of the heavy space between stage and seat. This time, the set was planned, and the band was ready and waiting for the solo show to end.

That's not to say Spektor didn't sing with the same force and skill that she's known for. Despite the distracting pot smokers, (whom she kindly asked to step outside -- making sure, of course, to ask if any police were around before she did), Spektor's performances of "Small Town Moon" and "Baobabs" were especially heart-wrenching. After donning her guitar for the always amusing "Bobbing For Apples" ("Someone next door's fucking to one of my songs, one of my songs") it was time for Spektor to introduce her band.

The addition of guitar, bass, and drum to Spektor's piano transforms her vocally driven musings into full-blown pop songs. On new tracks like "Hotel Song," this change is welcome.

Forcing older songs into this arrangement creates problems, however.

If Spektor wants to make her new sound work, she's going to have to work with her band to produce music that enhances her vocal ability instead of simply packaging it. Don't give up on her while she finds her way.

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