It feels lately as though Brandi Carlile has defied the odds. Since splashing onto the scene more than a decade ago with her sublime sophomore album, The Story, she’s built up a sizeable following and released a consistently solid string of records, but for the most part, it seemed as though things had plateaued for her a few years back. Then came By the Way, I Forgive You. Her latest studio effort, released earlier this year, pushed her artistry to new heights, and in turn, brought her music to more people than ever before. President Obama even featured the record’s standout lead single “The Joke” in his end-of-the-year playlist. The clearest signal of her newfound success, though, arrived in the form of a sold-out three-night stand at New York’s Beacon Theatre, where fans new and old were treated to a stunning display of an artist who just might be at the height of her powers.
“To say that this is a dream come true would be more than an understatement,” Carlile said early into the final night on April 7th, laughing in disbelief. If she was overwhelmed, she hid it well, but the significance of the moment was certainly not lost on her. In fact, it seemed to drive her throughout the course of the performance. From the hair-in-your-face rockers to the tear-jerking ballads Brandi was an electrifying presence on stage, filling the room with her joyful, gracious, and loving energy. Her voice continues to be a force of nature; capable of wringing a wealth of emotion out of a single line and leaving the audience to pick their jaws up from the floor when she let it soar in moments like the chill-inducing finale of By the Way centerpiece “Whatever You Do.”
The new album proved to be the focus of much of the show, and by the end of the proceedings, all ten of its songs had made their way onto the setlist. “The Mother” and “The Joke” served up a one-two punch to the cut with the former’s meditative simplicity giving way perfectly to the dramatic sweep of the latter, for which Carlile welcomed superstar country producer Dave Cobb on acoustic guitar, and when she sat at a piano for the set-closing “Party Of One” a hush fell over the crowd almost instantly, growing even quieter as the song’s tragedy was balanced with the raw beauty of the performance. It’s a testament to the strength of By the Way that the show felt complete with only a smattering of older favorites, including an anthemic rendition of “The Story” along with the three-part harmony showcases “The Eye” and “Cannonball,” the latter of which Brandi and her longtime compatriots, twins Tim and Phil Hanseroth, sang off-mic at the front of the stage. “It’s a beautiful thing to step out in front of it all and be in the same room with people,” she explained, “and this room has a voice so we’re going to make the voice of the Beacon Theatre the fourth-part harmony on this song.” And boy did that room sing.
Brandi Carlile has been an easy artist to root for over the years. Her voice is rafter-shaking and attention-demanding, her songwriting is top-notch, she’s been a champion for LGBTQ representation in roots music, and she’s just plain likeable. Watching her achieve this level of success and acclaim at this stage in her career would have been enough to make her showing at the Beacon a memorable one. But Brandi Carlile has never been about “enough,” and watching her go above and beyond proved that she’s not satisfied being at the top of her game, she’s climbing higher.
