Poor Rachael was sick with the flu the night of the show. Fortunately, she still took the stage and she still was amazing - it didn't hurt that Summer and I were about five feet away from her. She opened with "Be Be Your Love" on the piano, followed by "Letter Read" and performed all 4 songs from the pre-release for her new album Elephants... Teeth Sinking into Heart, which by the way, comes out tomorrow, October 7th (check back for my review). To me, it sounded like Rachael was a little under the weather the first song, but she cleared up really fast and sounded great by the time she stood up to play "Sidedish Friend" on the guitar (a bandmate even brought her a roll of toilet paper to blow her nose with). Her vocals sounded just as soulful and rich as they do on her recordings - her band consisted of a lead guitar, bass, cello, drums and special guest Kevin Devine (the opening act) on the guitar.
In my opinion, Rachael's music is practically written for small venues like Chop Suey in Seattle(occupancy about 250). Songs like "Meet Me by the Water" and "Reason Why", which are easily overpowered by freeway driving, filled the venue's intimate space perfectly. Rachael even sang part of her new song "Elephants" a cappella. "Letter Read" was probably the only song I thought sounded better recorded and only because of how well it's arranged on the CD. "Sunday Afternoon" was beautiful and my favorite song from the night. All the musicians, Rachael included, seemed incredibly modest and grateful to be performing to such an excited and energetic crowd.
1 comment:
This was a great concert. Rachael did very well considering how sick she was. Where she was lacking in energy, her band more than made up for it. If she ever tours in your city make sure that you are there. ~Summer
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