May 23, 2007
Kristeen Young OPENS for Morrissey - May 20th, 2007
Morrissey & Kristeen Young at the Murat. Sunday May 20th
-focus on the opener. get blown away by the veteran.
After a few listens to Kristeen Young’s new album The Orphans i was more than a little curious to see how it would translate into a live setting. The album by itself is mixed like a loud modern rock album, which it is. Only abrasive as fine sandpaper, melodic like hard bop (slight atonal notes and smashes abound), the album revolves around Ms Young’s range of vocal athleticism. Said sounds on CD were translated and then some, with the magic of performance. Oh yea, and shes been opening for Morrissey, so her game was on.
Before the show I had some fun going to a super hero themed cookout. There were kids dressed as totally fake heroes, and their parents like they missed laundry day. I almost felt bad having such a laugh before setting off for a melancholia show. A few hours later after being yelled at about nachos/cigarettes/jesus being made inn china a few beers at the chatterbox’s open poetry night put me back in the mood.
While filing into the Murat, smoking that last cigarette before the intermission, I couldn’t help but be struck by the sheer variance of people that may or may not live in Indiana and go to Morrissey shows. There were the sure to be there hipsters, but from 20 years ago. Hey! Ten year old kid! Your parents ARE cool for bringing you along. Enjoy it. But along with ageing Goths in black button ups, there were a ton of summer dresses and stripped golf shirts. Then I remembered it was a show in Indiana. I swear half of these people moved back from somewhere else.
Sarah Steirch in the front row. Of course. This shows going to rule.
in a half empty hall full of sitting hoosiers, “Baby” Jim White took his spot behind a gorgeous ludwig kit and started clicking away to opening moments of the older single London Cry. Ms. Young came a few measures later, looking a little tipsy but intriguing in a noir/futurist dress, half Blade Runner , half A Lonely Place. Her aluminum covered keyboards punched in a few bars and the singing started good and loud. It’s a solid opener with all of the locomotive power most artists reserve to keep the crowd going later; not the best opener for showmanship, but a solid tune to let people know what you’re about.
With only a few moments between songs being spent with hellos and a few insults, the set fell into a rhythm of live keys and drums mixed with Young going it alone on the mic while pre-recorded multi-track piano filled the room. Songs like ‘mixed kids’ and ‘9′ required some if not the full ‘I’m singing and i don’t care if i fall over’ stage movement. Young really gets the chance to literally stand out vocally, hitting high notes sounding exactly like Kate Bush and giving the persona wheel a spin - straight up diva moves for doo-wopey ‘ewww-ohs’ and almost hip hop bravado when extracting a controlled wail. The vocal control she has, non-operatic but by no means normal for rock singers, is utterly incredible. Stand out songs like Life’s Not Short, Its Soooo Long were nothing short of showcasing technicality.
White played expressively, losing his ear monitor from time to time, therefore holding back a bit. In a nothing but cute exchange, Young called him “conservative.” Technically the performance, aside from an almost smashed keyboard, was locked in. Baby Jim looks i little like brad Pitt, a bit from the Johnny suede era. With fills that sounded like the best calculated stair pratt falls, his solid as Bohnam skills were noticed.
Closing her end of the show with the mid western ode “Under a Landlocked Moon,” Young and White said their goodbyes and left the crowd in que for the ‘best of morrissey’ show.
The grand master of post-pop failed in one way only. He didn’t play ‘Big Mouth’ and that’s it. A total Morrissey immersion began with the crooner taking stage like nothing less than a champion fighter. After 30+ years of understated vocals and numerous albums of heartbreaking truth-songs, the entertainer worked the crowd to a T. Newer songs, older songs, and oh yea, SMITHS SONGS. With a backing band of at times nothing but FOUR guitar players and a drummer, the most career-long depressed man showed he still has the ability to touch an audience with his songs even with more than a few gray hairs (none of which were to be found when he went shirtless for half of a song early in the set.) Only one encore was given, but that was enough for me. He still has “it” and in droves. Keep going, but please, don’t put on a happy face. That would ruin everything.
I love the cell phone pics, seriously. Good write-up!