Hiro

[Juan Cadadia <juancadadia>]

Didn't see anyone post so far about her show at Hiro (I'm on the  
digest so I may be a bit behind).  So anyway, the band was fantastic  
and I don't think I have ever (and that's a long ever) heard her  
voice sound so good.  She barely missed a note all night, and her  
voice was powerful and filled with emotion. Louis Resta played  
keyboard during a good bit of the set, and Rich Robinson sat in for a  
couple of songs.  Jackson is more and more comfortable as a band  
member, and he played quite a few hot solos (wow, what a change from  
the "Oliver" days where you could sense the tension on the  
stage...EVERYBODY up there was hot, and was clearly enjoying  
themselves).  Lenny and JD are as solid as ever, although Tony seems  
to be emerging as the band leader more and more, and he is  
contributing more and more harmonies.   She first did a set  
consisting of nearly all the new album. Most of it sounds great.  She  
made fun of the tear for fears song, saying that a British press  
report that her record company made her do it so she'd have a hit was  
true, and also referred to some press mention of it sounding like  
she's singing Karaoke.  She was in great spirits and great voice, and  
did a fair amount of talking about the songs in between.  She closed  
the first set with Are You Experienced, sequeing into a line or two  
from Elegie then a psychadelic type jam and coming out into White  
Rabbit.  Great.  Then she took a great and then came out and did  
another set, with some oldies...Blakean Year, Gloria, Peaceful  
Garden, Southern Cross and maybe the best version of Because the  
Night I've ever heard her do.  Resta's banging on the keys during  
Gloria was reminiscent of the original.  She read Midnight Ride of  
Paul Revere (Longfellow) and then launched into Midnight Rider.  She  
closed with Teen Spirit....that contained a reading incorporated into  
the end..loved it but wasn't sure which book it was from.

Oh, and early on during the show she also talked about how the record  
company kept pestering her for "bonus tracks" ("if I knew they were  
going to want bonus tracks I would have called the album Ten..."),  
then she did one of them, a fantastic version of A Perfect Day.  I   
hope I can find it...

I thought the sound a Hiro was better than at Bowery (her usual NY  
venue) although the setup of the place is obnoxious.  There is a very  
large VIP section  off to the left, with tables, comfy padded seats  
and waitress service, and the paying crowd all stood and fought for  
space at the bar for a drink (oh, and a tiny glass of crappy wine was  
$10).  Bowery has a vip section, but it is somewhat hidden up on the  
side balcony.  This one took up too much good space and I think at  
least some of the seats should have gone to the paying customers who  
waited on line out front to get in early, not to the artists friends  
and the ever present obnoxious "industry" people getting freebies  
(this is NY ...).  No big deal really, but the in your face class  
distinction type thing was more Madonna than Patti...    Oh, and  
during the long wait before the set and in between sets, they kept  
playing the same Stones album over and over...I think I heard Beast  
of Burden four times...haha. Great album but...Hiro seemed unprepared  
for a rock audience.

I'm sure I missed something and my recollections were in no  
particular order but .. anyway... great great show, so I'm sure any  
of you who see her on the tour will be happy as she gets more and  
more used to singing the new songs.