Thursday, November 15, 2007

Patty Griffin at Northcote Social Club – WOW!

Patty Griffin with Doug Lancio - NSC 14 November 2007

It was quite a night at NSC full of wonderful music. We got there early for a meal and managed to be first in line to enter the band room, whereupon we grabbed a good position right in front of the stage.

The venue filled up fast until it was packed tight, being a sell-out show. There are several advantages to being up the front. As well as being the prime spot for viewing the show, it tends not to be as crushed as elsewhere in the room and also puts one in the best place to take photos without heads blocking the view.

Karl Broadie opened the show with a short engaging set. He was thrilled to be the support act for an artist of Patty Griffin’s calibre and intimated that we were in for a real treat.

How right he was, not that anyone in the audience had any doubts about the quality of the performance we were about to witness.

Patty Griffin was superb. Her powerful and affecting voice was wondrous to hear in a live setting. A guitarist called Doug Lancio is touring with her, playing lead guitar to her rhythm guitar. He was pretty good at it too.

The songs seemed to range across Patty’s entire repertoire and included two cover songs. She sang the gorgeous Trapeze song and Top of the World, which is regarded as one of the great songs of modern times. Her voice was perfect and so expressive it is hard to describe how it can tug at the heartstrings one moment, send chills down the spine at the next and rock one's soul to the core.

Patty’s set lasted for almost two hours and those hours appeared to flash by at the speed of light.
I barely noticed my feet, sore from standing for several hours.

I am thankful that I have tickets for her show on Friday. One certainly couldn’t just go and see her once.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fun review! Much more articulate than mine. Cannot WAIT to see her tonight, and I'm betting that you're similarly excited!

Reading further down the page... You're into horse racing? I work at a racing stable up here in Seymour!

-Vikki

Anne S said...

Ditto regarding tonight.

What a great job! I've been interested in horse racing since childhood, though have no contact with the industry.

Kay Cooke said...

Patty Griffin would've been fantastic to hear ... lucky you!

Anonymous said...

I've seen Patty twice. One of the best shows I've ever seen and one of the worst. Glad you caught her on an inspired evening!

Anne S said...

Hal, thanks for dropping by. You are from Hickory Wind I suss. I remember reading your review of the bad Patty concert whenever it was.

Patty loved our Australian audiences - we're quiet and respectful and extremely appreciative. She certainly deserved the response in the two concerts I witnessed.