THRUSH HOUR

It’s been some time since Your Humble Narrator has gone to a concert, but I got back a while ago from hearing Natalie Merchant perform at the Dodge Theatre—my pal Scott & his wife Teresa had an extra ticket & were massively kind enough to offer it to me.

Lovely show. The featured chanteuse sounded exquisite, & didn’t look any too repulsive either…

…& her band was superb.

Most of the songs were from her current album Leave Your Sleep, in which she sets poems on the theme of childhood to an eclectic array of musical styles ranging from faux-baroque folk to blues to swing. Featured were works by Edward Lear & Gerald Manley Hopkins & Laurence Alma-Tadema, as well as many more obscure poets about which she provided between-song lectures, complete with slides. It was all great stuff, but my favorite was her blue-grass setting of the wonderful “Isabel” verses of Ogden Nash.