A common worry for fans is that any deal an artist cuts with a major label will result in everything being sanded down and painted over with a glossy coat. This is a legitimate concern since major labels have a history of demanding artists adhere to trends or formulas that make them fit in, but not stand out. I’m sure fans of Lissie’s Why You Runnin’ EP felt this way after learning that she’d be making the jump to Columbia for Catching a Tiger. [Author's Note: made a mistake, Lissie is on an indie (Fat Possum) in the US and Columbia in the UK]. I also know that many were let down by that record when it finally came out. Not because it was lacking in well-written songs – there are a lot of great ones on it – but because the places where it was overproduced made Lissie appear like a country popper instead of the alt. country siren with a giant voice that she is. I still maintain that it’s an enjoyable record worth listening to, but it definitely doesn’t do Lissie justice like her live show does. That is where she shines.
The net gain of stripping everything down to Lissie, a guitarist and a bassist (that also plays drums at the same time) is that it removes the studio polish of the record and pushes her smoky, Stevie Nicks-esque voice out front. And because she has such an expressive voice, she is able to use this extra room to add meat to her songs and power to her words. Many times during her set I was enthralled by what she was doing, and the crowd was too. Once, after “Everywhere I Go,” someone put an exclamation mark on this feeling by yelling out “Damn, you should sing in the church, girl.” She definitely had the chops to do it, but then how would we see her? Have you thought about that random yelling man?
Random yelling man wasn’t alone in his opinions and was joined all night by other randomly yelling patrons in what proved to be an extremely vocal crowd. Lissie was fairly vocal herself, using most of her time between songs to tell anecdotes, explain the ideas behind her songs, and respond to the volley of words coming off the audience. And she did this with a level of poise that can only come from someone who is at home in front of others and a sense of enthusiasm that complemented the spirited nature of her performance.
Over of the course of the night, she played all of her best songs, and even made sure to jam out a few of them (“Little Lovin” and “In Sleep”). But the crowning jewel of her set was actually a cover of someone else’s song – Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness.” You could hear the crowd calling for it over and over again, which probably surprised no one since it was a YouTube video of that song that helped her get so much blog love this year. When she kicked it in, it was easy to see how her take outshines the original. The reason: she has a better voice and throws more emotion into the words than Cudi does. What it needed was some gravity, and that was what she gave it. It was worth the price of admission alone and another reason why she is worth seeing live. Go see her.
The opener, Ezza Rose, was a Portland-based group that had the same country leanings as Lissie, but took them in a folkier direction. What was played was stripped down and guided by the soft, yet effortlessly full voice of frontwoman Ezza Rose. It was pretty and gave one the feeling that they were near a music box, watching as the dancer slowly turned in circles. Sometimes folk, sometimes bluegrass, but frequently roots-based, the music was augmented by tight harmonies and strings instruments (violin, ukulele, and a scratched up guitar) in a way that showed this group to be one to watch.
Setlist:
Wedding Bells
Worried About
Here Before
When I’m Alone
Bully
Record Collector
Cuckoo
Everywhere I Go
In Sleep
Little Lovin’
-----------------------
Oh Mississippi
Pursuit of Happiness (Kid Cudi cover)
