i was at the show: August 2009

I saw these two shows back to back.

If you're not interested in why, skip to the next paragraph. If you find yourself curious, then here's why: Way back in April, I went to see Bat For Lashes throw down at a sold out show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Immediately following said show, I felt an urgent need to see Natasha & Co. throw down again...soon...urgent! The best I got was a glimmer of hope in

some canceled Boston dates that Natasha said she'd try to make up for in early August some time. So I waited, and I bided my time. And then I saw my chance. In June, new tour dates were announced for Boston...and as far as I could tell, no one knew about it yet!! SCORE!!!!

I facebooked all my relevant Boston peeps to see who might be down to see the show with me (it was a courtesy call, really...I would have been there with or without someone to keep me company). I bought a ticket. A friend I hadn't seen in 15 years bought a ticket. And I commenced to get really excited despite the two months between my ticket purchase and the actual show date.

Then, some time end-of-June-beginning-of-July-ish, I got word that Bat For Lashes was coming back to perform in NYC again, this time at Webster Hall...the kicker: The NYC

show was 12th August, and the Boston show (for which I already had a ticket) was 13th August, AND this was all in the week following my return to work from a month long work-holiday in Europe and the UK. Could I do it? Should I do it? Could I stop myself? The answers to these questions were: Yes. Yes. And No, respectively. I sent an emergency text to some of the NYC peeps who missed the last show because they didn't get in on it early enough. Tickets were purchased. Plans were made, and after having a great night out with Natasha and her friends and my friends in NYC, I took a half day from work to ride up to Boston and see Natasha work it out yet again. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!!!

So, because of the consecutive showings on the same leg of the same tour, rather than review each show on its own, I've decided to compare and contrast the two shows (with some added insight, of course).

For the NYC show, the venue was Webster Hall. I love the old school, art deco style of the theatre, and I love the fact that it's a bit bigger than Bowery Ballroom, but doesn't lose any of the intimacy. For this particular show, however, there was a barrier set up in front of the stage leaving a big gap between the crowd and the band where the press photographers could come and go until after the headlining opening number. It was annoying because 1) even if you were standing at the barrier, some photog with a ginormous flash mount could step in front of you obscuring your view of Bat For Lashes awesomeness, and 2) once all the photogs are ushered out, there's a sort of moat separating you from the foot of the stage - what if Natasha wanted to reach out and touch people's hands and stuff? That coulda been you! Dammit barrier!!

The Boston show was at Paradise Rock Club. I'd never been there before, but as you walk in, you can see all the posters on the wall for the cool sh*t they've got going on (Emiliana Torrini, Zap Mama, School of Seven Bells...check'em out if you're in the Boston area).

The venue is "cozy" and there's a giant column just a few feet from centre stage (and there was some poor person crammed behind it the whole show...). But they really pack the crowd in and the stage itself is quite low (only 3 or 4 feet off the ground), so you're really just all up in the show. For those that don't wish to jockey for position on the floor, there is also a non-VIP balcony area where you can see it all. So everybody wins (except for that poor person behind the column on the floor...sucker!).

The opening act on this leg of the tour is Other Lives, a band out

of Oklahoma. And they ain't half bad. If you're not frightened off by lead singer Jesse Tabish's facial hair and general lack of grooming, you will find yourself in for quite a treat! Tabish, Josh Onstott, and Jonathon Mooney switch off amongst themselves for guitar, autoharp, violin, and piano duty while Colby

Owens holds it all down on drums, and Jenny Hsu adds that touch of something special with her cello and backing vocals (and y'all know how I love the cello rock!). Their songs are bluesy rock and roll, with an atmospheric feel and a story to tell. Altogether, I found Other Lives to be a really good fit as an opener for Bat For Lashes.

Okay, here's what you came for: Bat For Lashes (with picturez b*tchez)!!! As for the set itself, if you like wolves and full moons, then this is the show for you! There was an enormous full moon-with-howling-wolf painted on the backdrop behind the stage, as well as a tapestry featuring

full moons and wolves hanging across the front of the piano. In NYC, Natasha stepped on-stage in a shiny black bodysuit flecked with splatters of gold and fur-fringed tie-on sleeves, in her bare feet (if you caught her on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the previous night, you know exactly what I'm talking about). In Boston, the costuming was quite the opposite: a black boat-neck 3/4 sleeve top, pouffy white skirt, a thick black belt, white leopard printed leggings, and again bare feet. No ginormous wolf-and-moon tapestry as backdrop, but I get the impression that the stage at Paradise just wasn't big enough to fit it in. In any case, Natasha was lovely and adorable, and looked like she might hop off stage after the show to go vintage shopping with Zooey Deschanel. And then she started singing and we all lost our minds!

If it weren't for the fact that I could hear Natasha breathing and giggling and chatting to the crowd during and between songs, I might have suspected that all the vocals were pre-recorded.

Natasha Khan turned in a pitch perfect performance of the most sublime vocal imagery ever let loose from a microphone. Both shows opened with the Two Suns biblical album Intro followed by Glass and Sleep Alone with it's primal, jungle dwelling bass and percussion thanks to Charlotte Hatherley (on bass, autoharp, percussion, backing vocals, balloon animals...you name it, this woman does it) and Sarah Jones (who I would still like to be be my best friend) on drums, percussion, and backing vocals. Giving the sets an otherworldly feel with the keyboard arrangements and seemingly random ambient noises and samples is the ever present

Ben Christophers. Horse & I - one of my all time favorite tracks - followed to raucous applause...tho in Boston, there was a bit of a giggly false start from Natasha on this one (check out the video at the bottom).

The set lists for the two shows did diverge a bit. Some songs swapped places with others. Some appearing at one show, but not at the next (they skipped out Sad Eyes completely at the Boston show). If it can even be conceived that anything could surpass the recorded version of Siren Song, the live version is a world changing experience. It starts off slow and quiet, adding layer upon layer of sound until you find yourself caught in the centre of a sonic storm so powerful you're not sure if the walls will hold.

Two Planets is another song in the live repertoire that may just make you believe (as I do) that Sarah Jones is the best drummer in the history of EVER. The thundering drums and Natasha's raw energy on stage make your tingles tingle. And for the record, I don't understand people who go to concerts and don't dance.

Who are these people and why do they even bother to leave their hovels to come and take up dance space at shows I go see? In Boston, the set "ended" with Pearl's Dream; in NYC the "ending" was a sparser version of Prescilla with Natasha alone on stage and accompanying herself on harpsichord. The Boston "encore" started with this same lonely version of Prescilla and the crowd was so moved by the performance, spontaneous hand-clap percussion erupted in pockets of the audience while Natasha sang, in hommage to the album version. It was a very warm and fuzzy moment for all, and Natasha paused a moment to look up in the direction of the claps and give a smile before continuing on. Back in NYC, the "encore" of Moon & Moon elicited a manic shout of "YOU'RE AMAZING!!!" from somewhere in the crowd, which in turn elicited an equally spastic response of "THANK YOU!!!" from Natasha before starting the song.

The last song for both shows was Daniel. Not a bad way to end a show, really. The band going crazy on-stage, Natasha singing, dancing, and smiling like a Make A Wish kid at Disneyland, and the entire room jumping up and down, dancing, and vibrating to the music. Yeah, I can think of worse ways to spend an evening (or two). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want to be Natasha Khan when I grow up.

And when I'm all grown up and Natasha Khan, I want Sarah Jones to be my very best friend! I'll even listen to all of those "When-I-was-On-Tour" stories for the thousandth time, and do so with a smile on my face and a (Bat For Lashes) song in my heart. And even though I know what's coming next, I will try to give all of my responses as unstudied an air as possible. Honest! I promise, Sarah! Call me!...*sigh* Do not, I repeat: DO NOT miss this show if it comes to your city!!!

In the meantime, here are some vids i recorded on my cellphone...the images may not be the bestest of the best, but i promise the sound quality is so good y'all!

Bat For Lashes performing Intro/Glass Live @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston