By Karen Bells, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Singer's stunning performance overshadows headliner Hatfield
Sometimes the appetizer is so scrumptious that even a fine main course tastes ordinary.
Juliana Hatfield was that picked-at entree Wednesday night at Bogart's, pleasing but never quite filling an audience stuffed on opener Jeff Buckley.
Hatfield knew what she was up against: As soon as she took the stage she acknowledged, "He's a tough act to follow."
And so he is. You would have thought it was a dentist's office with all the mouths hanging open in the crowd. Buckley's voice is a stunner, a wonderous instrument-he takes a note, rolls it around in his mouth, makes it dance and hurt and perform a series of stunts.
He served haunting versions of several cuts from his debut album, Grace. On "So Real," "Mojo Pin," the title track, and alterna-favorite "Last Goodbye," his guitar work was imppressive-but it's the voice that clutches you. For once, the hype is true: This is Van Morrison/Billie Holiday-size talent.
A withering cover of the MC5 classic "Kick Out the Jams" showed the band's chops. But the showstopper was Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," delivered as though salvation depended on it.
Where to go after that? Hatfield laid down almost two hours of likeable licks-18 short, sweet rocker. Many of the songs from her latest, Only Everything-especially "Dying Proof" and "OK OK"-revealed a harder edge, and she wears her newfound love of distortion well.
But Hatfield earned her reputation as a crafter of clever pop tunes, and she delivered the goods with catchy versions of "My Sister," "Supermodel" and "Spin the Bottle"-all from 1993's Become What You Are-and current hyper-rotation hit "Universal Heart-Beat." Her sugary voice serves such songs well, and Only Everything's "My Darling" and "Fleur de Lys" showcase that pretty, feathery quality.
But the delicate voice at times was grating, and I occasionally wished it had the power and grit of the band's playing (which included former Juliana Hatfield Three members Dean Fisher on bass and Todd Philips on drums). I got my wish when she ripped through the dark "Nirvana," from Hatfield's 1992 Hey Babe as well as her old Blake Babies days.
The capacity crowd of 1,400 thinned out a little by the end (dozens split after Buckley's performance), but Hatfield still got an enthusiastic encore call.
The audience was rewarded: Her solo cover of the Jayhawks' "Blue" was an unusual treat and worth the wait.
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