For my birthday, which just happened to be on the same night that Charlotte Gainsbourg opened her American tour in Vancouver, I had the pleasure of being entertained by said jewel.
You may have read my earlier post where I gave a brief review and a little biography, but this time I saw her live in concert. Odly enough, I wrote that blog before I had bought the ticket to this show. Oh was she ever beautifully magnificent. A lot of her songs she found herself holding the mic off the stand in her hands, intimately close where she could whisper her lyrics into the mic, just like I love her to do. Really, it perfectly topped off my day and sent me into a blissful haven.
Sometimes, at these shows that are sitting down, you get people that stand up directly in front of you, annoying you and their cheeryness….. but at this show, I think she controls the mood greatly with her persona so much so that everybody is just sitting there mesmerized by her. Very delicate and… hmm. Maybe its her French accent.
When she came out, you could hear people in the crowd gasp as they looked on at her, amazed by her presence, persona.. all of it combined. She came out with these striped pants, that had leather pockets and back side to them, which were bizarre in the most incredibly sexy way, and yes, I’d love to know where she got them from. She also had on this thin strip of a black scarf like thing that just hung around her neck, contrasting with her white tank top.
Her band was a pretty amazing crew. They all had character, even the bass player hidden in the back corner, and all playing with instruments of all sorts to get the sound of Charlotte. She had this fuzz pad thing, not sure what its called, but depending on where you touch it, and how you touch it, it creates space effects, which in my mind give her sound extra goodness.
The opening act that came on was AM, who were pretty damn good. I had heard about them before going to the show, and when I was there, I really enjoyed them. I love when a band pulls out the uke, which they did, and swelled my heart.
Another band came on after them, which I’m not sure was a official band with a name, but they fooled around, I suspect in pre-arranged song format. It was one of the guitarists for Charlotte and a DJ playing with knobs and a laptop. I forget their names, but I really enjoyed the singing of the DJ. I hope he start singing more. This act really bordered on a electronic act, if it weren’t for the fusion guitar that was being belted out. There were times where it was a little hard to handle, but others where I was quite enjoying it.
The whole night, all three acts were very soft spoken, personable, and cute. They all seemed very humble, and I most definitely would jump at the opportunity to meet any one of them again. If your reading this trying to debate whether or not to go to the show, GO. Buy your ticket now. Its just a shame that you all weren’t able to catch the show on Sunday April 11th with me, because it was the perfect venue, Vogue Theater, and a perfect night for myself, and I’m sure all the rest of the folks in the theater.
A cool fact that Charlotte mentioned is that the night I saw her, was her first show in America of the tour, her first tour, and her first time in Vancouver, so needless to say I felt incredibly honored. For more of her tour schedule, and to see if she’s coming near your check out her webpage. Charlotte, if you happen upon this blog, I wish I could shower you with big hugs in thank you for what you’ve given me, keep on truckin girl.
As a side note, I’m slowly starting to go to concerts again. Its been almost a half year since I’ve stopped, to hopefully focus on my own artistic interests, and it was a really nice way to get back into it again. I am trying to keep it to shows under $30, which Charlotte wasn’t! Neither will Jack Johnson, but what can you do…
Did anybody else go to the show? Love to hear what you thought about it.
