Rachael Yamagata at the Mod Club; Friday December 12, 2008

Rachael Yamagata at the Mod Club; Friday December 12, 2008

This was my first time seeing Rachael Yamagata. She's around thirty and absolutely stunning. I got a good look of her as i was walking into the show, as she came in behind me and commented on how cold it was. I noticed she was wearing opened toed shoes, perhaps it's warmer in Virginia. I arrived in good time, thankfully, as the Mod Club are complete nuts when it comes to shows, they start them at seven sharp! Yamagata didn't go on close to 9:00, which is still ridiculously early. She opened with “Be Be Your Love,” the first tune i'd ever heard by her. I was surprised that she played it first, as this is her biggest song. I figured by the end of it it was just so she could rouse the crowd a bit, with a lifting song. “Be Be Your Love” is easily her most accessible song, probably because it was used in SOO many TV shows. I was incredibly amazed when she began to sing, i'd heard her on Youtube before but it's definitely more impressive to see everything live. She played the piano for that song.Surprisingly she played the guitar for a good chunk of the set, which gave some of her songs a different feel. If there was something that i would remember this show by it would be Yamagata's modesty. She was incredibly real in her delivery. Before she started playing a newer tune she announced that she was struggling with the guitar part and for reviewers not to criticise her too hard. I think she said she had translated her tune from piano to guitar. She played songs off both her albums equally, which i was thrilled about because i was most familiar with her older album 'Happenstance'. She also played a couple of songs that i had no idea about. I distinctly remember her playing “Worn Me Down,” which was off her older album. She played guitar for this tune, similar to the way it is on the album. I just really like this song. Thankfully they didn't do the lame background voices in the bridge of the song, like the recorded version does. She played “Elephants” at the beginning of her set. Most of the live versions i'd seen on Youtube was her singing it acapella. She did this one with the band. It was really brilliant how much life she could breathe into a slow, solemn song. About half way through the song it picks up in just the slightest way, she and her band did a brilliant job easing this in.Speaking of her band... All men. Which sort of accentuates how dominant Yamagata is as a singer. It sort of separated her from her band and made her seem like a solo artist. She said on her way in through the border, they asked what band they played in, she joked that they figured that it was one of the guys' band. The people at the border proceeded to ask who she's played with... she replied with Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams. They immediately thought she said Bryan Adams and said back “OOOH you must play at big venues”. The pride and joy of Canada right there. Yamagata's voice is incredibly powerful. On her new album she does a song with Ray LaMontange, also a brilliant artist. I think they just simply called it “Duet”. It's one of the prettiest song both in lyrics and music that i've heard in ages. It's delicate, but showcases two of the most powerful voices. When i heard this duet i really started to notice how much these two sound alike. Not so much in sound but through delivery and presentation. Musically they sort of share the same genre but more so in the power they have and how they can really tone town the intensity when needed. I was really sad to hear about the Ray LaMontange show after it had sold out earlier this year. I would give a lot to see him. I feel as that show was very hush, hush. Pitty.I was really happy with Yamagata's encore of “Reason Why”. I feel as though she got such a huge push from soundtracks that she owes it to the people at her shows (and the movies they were in) to play these songs. “Reason Why” to my knowledge was only in the movie The Last Kiss. I wasn't too thrilled about this movie and the soundtrack correlation, as the majority of the songs weren't even in the movie. But the soundtrack on it's own is a beautiful medley of songs. She began to play it and then stopped... I think she only got to “I think about how we might of been...”. She laughed at the light show the Mod Club had set up. Earlier in the set she had commented on the smoke and asked if there was a fire somewhere. This time round she said she felt like she was roller skating... I really laughed when she said this. She quickly after launched back into her song, which was smooth sailing until she hit the last party when it was clear that there was some kind of club scene, dance party going on next door. She stopped and tried to formulate a remix of some sort. She hummed the beat and tried, not so successful. There were maybe twenty or thirty more seconds left of the song but she concluded beautifully. This show was so well executed i felt as though it were recorded. It just sounded so perfect. That's a flaw in her own talent. Yikes. BUT i adored it. Her songs sound a lot a like so it was a little tough to stand in one spot, this is sort of how i felt at Iron and Wine. She's a real gem, if you haven't already heard her you should get on that.

December 16, 2008