Natalie Merchant: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA 8/11/10

Natalie Merchant recently broke a seven-year silence with her rapturous, albeit lengthy, double album Leave Your Sleep. The offering was met by many fans with resistance, and at some level ambivalence. It had been almost ten years since a fully Natalie Merchant-penned album, so while she wasn’t digging up and reviving older folk songs (as was done on 2003’s The House Carpenter’s Daughter), Leave Your Sleep is comprised of 26 songs whose lyrics come from 19th and 20th Century poetry, all dealing with or written by children.

One of Natalie Merchant’s many strengths is her lyrical ability—her eloquence, subtlety and economy of words. 10,000 Maniacs songs such as “Jezebel,” “Candy Everybody Wants” and “Noah’s Dove” are full of rich imagery and convey a huge amount of emotion without becoming overwrought. Her solo work also delivers profundity without the narcissism that many of her contemporaries exhibited ten years into their careers. So, to restrict Merchant’s lyrical prowess on “Leave Your Sleep” is an enormous jump into a potentially disastrous unknown. Thankfully, the care and thoughtfulness of each song’s instrumentation, the varied arrangements and styles and the precision of studio production all showcase once again that Natalie Merchant not only has the chops to be one of the best singer-songwriters of her generation, but rather she is one of the defining ones.

The show at Oakland’s Fox Theater on Wednesday, August 11th started with a 90-minute set devoted to Leave Your Sleep. Unfortunately, the first few songs did not come across fairly well, as Merchant relied on the more slow-to-mid tempo tracks with pared down instrumentation that paled in comparison to their album counterparts. “The Land of Nod” sounded under rehearsed and thin, “The Man in the Wilderness” was flat and “The King of China’s Daughter”—one of the most interesting on album—was bogged down by Merchant twirling an annoying Chinese lantern, thus diverting attention away from the beautiful and lush arrangement.

Merchant gave introductions to each song, often delving into each poet’s history or her reading on the poetry’s meaning. While at times tedious, these often helped elevate the songs to new levels and also provided a fuller and deeper reading to the compositions. Such songs that benefited especially were slower tracks “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience” and “Spring and Fall: to a young child.”

However, it was when Merchant and her band kicked it into higher gear, playing the more up-tempo tracks that the concert really got started and engaged the audience. Songs like “The Peppery Man,” “Bleezer’s Ice Cream,” “Adventures of Isabel” and the entrancing “The Dancing Bear” all had the crowd clapping in time, laughing or dancing. “If No One Ever Marries Me” was especially poignant and beautiful, with Merchant explaining how it was written by a child poet, and thus the juxtaposition of a 50ish woman delivering such a poem against gorgeous guitar parts really captured the fragility and vulnerability of the song.

After a very short break, Merchant and a smaller version of her band returned onstage to play songs from her entire career, digging all the way back to early 10,000 Maniacs. “Wonder” had the audience singing along to every word, bringing a big grin to Natalie’s face. Next was a new arrangement of “Carnival,” with dark and brooding guitar and bass sections that flirted with R&B. “Hey Jack Kerouac” resonated especially due to the Bay Area’s fascination with the Beat Generation, and fans were thrilled to hear 10,000 Maniacs songs after such a long wait.

Following the song, Merchant discussed how when she met Allen Ginsberg, he questioned her as to her lyrics, “Allen baby, why so jaded? / Have the boys all grown up and their beauty faded?” She continued that despite this initial disagreement, she and Ginsberg became very good friends, and that before he died he gave her one of his harmonium organs (she eventually lost the instrument in a nasty breakup–to which she’s still slightly bitter, she laughingly added). She was asked to sing at Ginsberg’s funeral, and she performed “King of May,” off of the “Ophelia” album. She claimed the band didn’t know it, so she sang the beginning a cappella, and all of a sudden her lead guitarist joined in, and they performed the first half of the song. It was incredibly soulful and heartbreaking, showcasing yet again Merchant’s unwavering ability to craft compelling and elegant songs.

“Break Your Heart” had a great interaction between her and her guitarist (who sang the backup and harmony parts), and then they launched into two flawless versions of “Don’t Talk” and “Eat for Two,” the latter of which featured a full band treatment. The rest of the set felt slightly self-indulgent and drawn out, with an oddly chosen “The Wrong Thing” and lifeless closer “The Letter.”

The second encore of “These are Days” and “Kind and Generous” had the entire audience singing along, dancing, cheering and clapping with unrestrained fervor and glee. Merchant seemed thrilled to be on stage, delivering two of her most popular songs of her career, and what a great way to close an almost three-hour long show. Her band was tight, energetic and as Natalie danced as if she were experiencing a gripping catharsis.

There were certainly many moments of mildly frustrating artistic tangents, but what I came away from the show with the resounding fact that Natalie Merchant, despite her idiosyncrasies, whims and obsession with history, is without a doubt one of the most talented singer-songwriters of her time, and she continues to deservedly carve her place in the canon of American music. Some fans may be looking forward to when the “Leave Your Sleep” era is over, but this whole project reminds me that whenever Natalie takes on a new venture, she pours her heart, soul and talent into it, and the results always astound me. If you gather up the patience and with an open mind dive into this project and this tour, the emotional and spiritual benefits are joyous and invigorating.

Setlist:

Set One—Leave Your Sleep, The Land of Nod, The Sleepy Giant, The Man in the Wilderness, The King of China’s Daughter, Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience, Spring and Fall: to a young child, maggie and millie and molly and may, The Peppery Man, The Janitor’s Boy, Bleezer’s Ice Cream, Adventures of Isabel, Calico Pie, If No One Ever Marries Me, The Dancing Bear, Equestrienne

Set Two—Retrospective, Wonder, Carnival, Hey Jack Kerouac, King of May (partial), Break Your Hear, Don’t Talk, Eat for Two, River,
The Worst Thing, The Letter

Encore:
These are Days, Kind & Generous

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