OK, lemme get this part out of the way: I was really, really excited to see the name "Gillian Welch" on the FleetBoston Pavilion marquee.
Apparently, lots of folks didn't share in my excitement...'cause about 75% of those in attendence kept up a constant drone of blabbing during Welch & Rawlings' performance. Rawlings even asked the crowd for just a little bit of quiet....joking about needing it for just one song. He got it for about fifteen seconds, then the buzzing returned.
Idiots.
Anyway...I was a little worried that this would continue into Norah Jones' set, ruining the entire night. Luckily, the full-band Norah Jones experience was just loud enough to drown out the concert-as-social-event crowd (which drew from a surprisingly wide set of age groups: from pre-teens all the way up to those in their fifties).
Norah and her very talented band started off with Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart". I had wondered how this material would sound live...and was happy to discover that her band put a nice twist on everything. Tunes became a little more bluesy, a little more country, a little more jazzy. Nice. The bulk of the material came from Come Away With Me with the addition of several new songs and some nice covers.
What surprised me the most was how unaffected and genuine Norah seemed considering her "insta-fame". She handled crowd "requests" and "we love you's" with grace and humor (and my wife had to admit that, yes dammit, she's kinda cute).
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
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Article comments
1 - The Theory
people who talk during Gillian Welch deserve to be shot.
She'd be the only reason to go to a Norah Jones Concert.
peace.
2 - cjones
I went to the Norah Jones concert in Boca Raton and the crowd there was exactly the same. Very chatty and the age range was the same. I believe Gillian Welch was from the "O Brother Where Are Thou" soundtrack? I liked her performance as well as Norah Jones but I wouldnt say that the Gillian Welch performance was the highlight of the event. Norah and her band performed very well and yes Norah is gorgeous and very laid back.
3 - BJ
I'm a big fan of each, too bad the crowd wasn't more supportive. As for Norah Jones, I saw her almost by accident opening for Willie Nelson back in the day (it wasn't that long ago, but no one had heard of her - I hadn't anyway) and I bought her record as soon as I could. I think she's a genuine talent.
Her fans aren't her fault. I hereby predict she'll have a long and interesting career, but will never again be quite this popular. Sort of on the model of Emmylou, or Cassandra Wilson, or Aimee Mann. At least that's what I'm hoping for.
4 - ruby
nora is talented beautiful....and i would buy every album she puts out....i'm looking forward to her next conert
check out my music. Nora is a big inspiration for me visit me