By: Jen Paulson
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| Amy Winehouse - Photo by Stacy Schwartz (click for set) |
The Amy Winehouse train rolled into town Wednesday, as it is rolling through a handful of cities right now, complete with another sold-out venue; people stood outside the venue with signs that they needed tickets, and a girl stood up on a plant stand with "I need a ticket" written on her t-shirt. As I watched the chatter outside before the show, a guy with a ticket went up to one of the girls looking for her way inside and asked her, "How much are you willing to pay?" She looked at him a little confused I think, trepidatious about what amount to say, or maybe wondering if he was even serious. "Because I paid $88 for this one on Ebay..." And then there was the Fox 9 News truck outside the venue, probably covering the day's news of the Minnesota state Legislature proposing to make ticket scalping legal again.
I was not necessarily excited by my initial listens to Patrick Wolf, but from the moment he took the stage for his short set, I was nothing less than totally entertained. He had a adorably flamboyant, yet incredibly pleasant stage presence. His pairing with Amy marks his first night of his first US tour in support of his new album. I think his music is so much better live than it is recorded, though. At the Varsity the sound was full and he and his band played well together, seeming to enjoy each other's company. For a typically electronic artist, his set was incredibly organic. He played the keyboard and sang, and had a violinist and a stand-up bass player among the fold. As a person who was there for the sole purpose of seeing Amy Winehouse and wishing all I could do was skip the opener entirely, Wolf's performance changed my mind. I don't think he played more than six songs tops, but when he was told that he had only seven minutes left, he used that time wisely, closing with "The Magic Position," the title track off his new album – a sweeping epic of a song, barely shrouded with tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendo that featured Wolf hopping around and dancing in an outfit i can only describe as "Bowie as a Boy Scout in Lederhosen." I loved it.
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| Amy Winehouse - Photo by Stacy Schwartz |
The stage changeover for Amy Winehouse seemed to last forever, but it may have just been the anticipation plus the actual hour that it took. She finally took the stage, bouffanted hair overtaking her already tiny frame, dressed in a white wife-beater, tour-weary black pants and old-school Reeboks laced around her ankles. She was smaller than I expected. Typically I do not squeeze my way to the front of a show – I stay safely towards the back, where no one is touching me and I am free to take notes and flail my elbows while I scribble. But this time, I was able to stand right by the front of the stage. Almost too close; it was intimidating. With The Dap Kings as her backup band and her own half-of-the Temptations suited guys adding dance moves, backup singing and hand claps, she sang her first song, "Addicted" off of her 2003 release, Frank. Of course, she asked for a drink afterwards. One swallow, followed by a second longer chug, and a third sip to kill it. People cheered, feeding off of it, given the hard-drinking reputation that has made her a public persona. She took a moment, briefly surveyed the crowd and made a comment to her backup singer. I can't help but wonder what those words were. She played a set full of highlights off of Back to Black, and her inebriated, self-depricating humor and conversations with the crowd went over well with most of the crowd, with their random "I love yous" and "You're awesomes" peppered in for good measure.
The no more than 45-minute set left everyone in attendance wanting more, but in the best way. On her best behavior, no spouting off to the crowd or being too drunk to perform, she was just buzzed enough to live up to her reputation while still putting on a good show. (A person could not expect the live show to exceed the crispness of Mark Ronson's production value on Back to Black.) With the exception of her sometimes out of sync dancing, or the puffed-out cheek face that she was making throughout the show, she managed to keep the crowd rapt throughout. Her performance of "Tears Dry On Their Own" – one of my album favorites – was apparently the crowd's, too, judging by the cheering that accompanied the "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" clackety-clack of it's opening strains. Another highlight, of course, was the rousing, set-closing performance of her hit "Rehab" before the two-song encore. In a quick jaunt on and off the stage, she came back and played "Love Is A Losing Game" and a cover of the Zutons song "Valerie." I would have preferred an off-it's-hinges performance of one of her originals instead, but I will just say, in retrospect, that I wish I had a time machine so I could keep revisiting that night of music forever.
Setlist:
Addicted
Just Friends
Cherry
Back to Black
Wake Up Alone
Tears Dry On Their Own
He Can Only Hold Her
Fuck Me Pumps
You Know I'm No Good
Me And Mr. Jones
Rehab
Encore:
Love Is A Losing Game
Valerie (Zutons Cover)
Location Info:
The Varsity Theater
Artist Info: Amy Winehouse, Patrick Wolf
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