Posts Tagged “esthero”

Aug 19 2006

Esthero, 05-24-2006, The Independent

Posted by: dave in concert, tags: esthero, the independent

I’ll be honest, I’ve adored Esthero ever since I saw a track on a CMJ New Music Monthly CD in 1998. The description mentioned she was inspired by Bjork and Tori Amos, and that sort of a combination in my mind would have quite possibly been the best ever! I loved the track (Breath from Another), I got the album as quickly as possible and I’ve been in love with it ever since. Unfortunately, seeing Esthero live was a little difficult as I was living in the middle of nowhere for so long, and then she went on a hiatus of a sort and wasn’t touring. Fast-forward to 2005, and I was broke when she toured for her latest album Wikked Lil’ Grrrls. Damn. Luckily for me, I managed to see the listing for this show and I was FINALLY going to be able to see Esthero, plus it was going to be some sort of special intimate acoustic show to boot. Score!

What, I got was a very interesting performance. I’m not making any judgements, since obviously this wasn’t a typical show, but it was definitely not what I was expecting. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the atmosphere was somewhat more informal and spontaneous, rather than a “show”. Kinda like you were hanging out with Esthero in a large house with a large bar and she was just gonna hang out and play some songs and talk some shit. And that’s exactly what she did over the next couple of hours.

She said she only really had a couple of songs “prepared” and the rest would just be made up from whatever people shouted in the crowd. Clearly, the crowd was entirely Esthero fans (something I absolutely love to see at a show, no scenesters, no hipsters, just people who enjoy great music) and they shouted quite a few “interesting” things… and to her credit, Esthero played almost everything people screamed for. In between filling requests she told plenty of stories and bantered with the audience and took shots of Jägermeister (pirate, yarrrr!) and introduced us to her dog. Definitely a lot less like a concert, and a lot more cabaret I suppose. By the end of the show, things were an absolute trainwreck, with at least half of the audience ending up on stage singing and dancing with Esthero. Very crazy.
I’m very intersted in seeing her again with a full band, and I hope she puts a new album/EP/anything out sometime soon so I can hit up another show. Meanwhile, this was defintiely worth the wait, and the acapella Swallow Me was absolutely astounding. I don’t think many people in music today have the combination of a great voice, great music, and great lyrics that Esthero has, and it’s a great thing that she’s releasing music again.

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