Seeing her last night was about as good as it gets. The stage was lit up bright with sphere paper lanterns and white christmas lights, it felt like a summer barbeque. The only drawback of my summer's evening was how incredibly hot it was at the Horseshoe. It wasn't until the end of the set that people dispersed a bit.
This was her record release party for her new album Honeymoon Punch, an album I didn't gravitate towards on first listen, but really fell for live. Her band has drastically changed since the last time I saw her, which I think was about a year and a half ago at the Sudbury Folk Festival. She's lost her violinist Kinley Dowling, making her music a great lively charge. She's also backed by four guys comprising a band of two guitars, two synths/pianos, bass player and drums. In the past, I have even seen her play with an upright bass player!! Her music definitely has taken a great shift in its feel to a bigger, better sound.
The first time I saw Jenn Grant was in the fall of 2007, big transition time in my life. I had just moved downtown, she was opening for the Veils at the El Mocambo and I was writing a review of the gig for a music review website. It was all very exciting, but I just wasn't feeling her. Her sound was too bare, I even remember saying that she could use a full band and wouldn't do well without it. Well here they are!
I also saw Jenn Grant play a Six Shooter Ladies night at the Reverb (RIP) for Canadian Music Week 2009. Melissa McClelland, Jenn Grant and Catherine McClelland all had their kicks at the can that evening. Just really great feelings all around.
But beyond those, my very favourite Jenn Grant gig was at the Harbourfront. It was a brisk summer evening in July - I remember feeling completely comfortable, but with a great hint of excitement for the gig. There's something really serene about seeing music with the water stretched out behind you, pitch black with a few glimmering lights. I really got the chills hearing "Sailing by Silverships," I also recorded the entire song that evening. Maybe with good luck I can find it.
In the full band set up, "Sailing by Silverships" really didn't translate as well as I wanted it to. It has a delicacy that was mastered so well before. A lot of it was lost in her live performance because of the band's full sound. Now, I don't want you to think I'm contradicting my stance on her band arrangement, but I just don't think if I were to hear it for the first time at a live show I'd like it as much as I would the other way. The bridge "ohs" kind of lost their sound that the recorded version and former band really caught.
old sound -
This show was intimate, she talks quite a bit as if we were a long lost friend. She's definitely found a comfort in performing - she has a full back up band that she can just sing at times. I loved how into her music she was, she loved every minute of it.
She showcased a lot of material off of her new album but in such a way that one could never get too bored. It wasn't a self-indulgent gig by any means! She peppered in several tunes off of her beautiful 2009 release Echoes. Echoes was the album that immersed me into Grant - it has a very polished, together sound that I really can appreciate. It's quite bare, which was what I loved about both her and Leslie Feist's music. I loved that she played "Hawaii" - a tune that I remember listening to over and over and over two summers ago, I played it dead. It sounded very different than what I was expecting. Not much like the album version at all because of the band arrangement! It's really different to hear male voices back up her sound, one that I consider very feminine. No losses though.
She also played "You'll Go Far" as well.
I was really happy to hear a tune she played at Rich Terfry's (aka Buck 65) wedding called "Let's Get Started." She shouted out to Terfry's wife in full name asking where she was. She called her "The most beautiful woman ever." The tune was released on an EP I had never seen for sale, four tunes under the name Songs for Siigoun. I bought it at the end of the night for ten bucks, pretty steep, but with original stamp artwork on the cover that Grant said she'd never do again.
Wish I made it out to this one:
She came out for a very modest encore of two songs - a cover of a very upbeat Ron Sexsmith called "Dragonfly on Bay." He had a huge hand on her first album Orchestra For the Moon, so it only makes perfect sense. Here it is a la Ron Sexsmith -
Her final tune was a little ditty called "Dreamer" off of her album Orchestra for the Moon. I swear I heard her say at the Six Shooter gig that this wasn't a song she plays very often, but I've heard her play it every time!! Besides that, I love hearing it. It's a gorgeous song off of her debut release.
This show was very danceable. A lot of swaying and hip shaking the best I could. It was pleasant change to her bare bones sound before!
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