The concert being reviewed is the Rickie Lee Jones with Madeleine Peyroux live outdoor concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. The show was on August 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm with tickets going for $ 35. I got to watch the show from GA Bleacher 31, row GA SM. From the position, though not near the stage, I had a view of the stage and performers. The Mountain Winery was filled to capacity with people even travelling from other towns to attend the concert. The setting was okay and the under the stars outside arrangement made the concert spellbinding. Both Rickie Lee and Madeleine Peyroux are great vocalist who can hold their even in a solo concert. Rickie Lee Jones is a two time Grammy Award winner; her songs cut across rock, R&B and jazz genres (Rickie Lee Jones, 2012). She is also a song writer. Madeleine is a vocalist, and her songs are mostly jazz and blues (Madeleine Peyroux, 2012). Instruments played during the concert were bass, cello, guitars, keyboards both acoustic and electrical, and organ.
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My expectations before attending the concert were for a great show because the two singers have diverse and unique vocals. Their voices were more captivating than I had expected. The audience was quiet during performances allowing one to capture the emotions evoked by the songs they sang. This was further emphasized by the overall outdoor setting. Both singers sang their own renditions and interpretations of songs done by other composers. In addition, they both showed diverse vocal ranges what was normally portrayed in their studio-recorded songs enabling them to pass on the emotions in the songs to the audience. The concert turned out to be better than I had expected.
Madeleine Peyroux opened the show just as dusk set in. She played her own compositions, ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’ and ‘The Kind You Can’t Afford.’ She also did songs of other composers such as Bob Dylan’s, ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.’ Her song ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’ is urging someone to take chances in life and in love. The song has both a jazz and blues feel to it. It is a somber song but her voice is warm and clear reaching out to the audience. The instruments accompany perfectly.
Rickie Lee Jones sings ‘Weasel and the White Boys Cool’ which is her 1979 own composition. She also does compositions of other singers such as ‘Rebel Rebel’, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ among others. Most of her renditions sounded more like the original songs. She performed most of first songs on the guitar and then moved to the piano for two songs. The piano made her performance more spellbinding compared to the guitar and really made her voice stand out and reach into the crowd. ‘Weasel and the White Boy Cool’ is about a poor boy named Sal. It is a sad song when one listens to the words of the song. It tells a touching story. The song is in the rock genre.
My favorite song was Rickie Lee Jones’ ‘Weasel and the White Boy Cool’ due to its story telling quality as well as the response it received from the audience. It transported one to a different time: her voice was strong and emotive during the performance. My least favorite song was her interpretation of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ which was a bit chilling for me.
I liked the artists because they were each strong in their own ways and were able to carry their performances. The instruments accompanied their voices well, and they were able to draw emotion from the crowd. I liked Madeleine Peyroux voice especially due to the way she was able to control it in different songs. Moreover, I wished she had played more of her songs during the concert. The performance on the whole was exhilarating due to the strengths of the musicians. The downer was only at the end when Rickie Lee Jones was cut off before she finished.