Imogen Heap Woos Crowd at The Box Audience members at The Box got a rare VH1 Storytellers-esque performance from Brit sensation Imogen Heap on Thursday night. Heap, best known for her 2005 LP Speak For Yourself and her band, Frou Frou, took this evening to play her '98 release I Megaphone exclusively. Upon entrance to the brand new venue, one can't help but be impressed. The intimate theater holds a vaudevillian characteristic, lit mostly by shaded lamps and chandeliers. It's not the best place to stand and watch a show, but the (very limited) seating is comfortable and chill. The balcony is a box-seat type of experience, and the bar at the back serves tasty, if not pricey, drinks. On this evening, a bright red Baldwin piano stood front and center with flowers and candles adorning the stage. Heap took the stage wearing an outrageous yet chic outfit, as per usual. She got a bit of press this past weekend at the Grammys (pictured) in her lily-pad dress (which, she reported, the Grammys want for their new Grammy Museum), and this eve she sported a similar outfit. After a few initial audio issues, Heap jumped right into the album, which she played sequentially, allowing us to "experience the record together in a new way." The Essex-born singer stated that it was "a little weird for [her] to play these songs now," as many of them have left her song rotation. Certain songs, such as "Rake It In" haven't been played in about 8 years, when she toured the US at the age of 19. Heap's musicianship is phenomenal. When I learned the night would include just her and a piano, I was a little skeptical; I was afraid that I would miss the full orchestration of the album, but she made it clear from the start that stripping the songs to the core was equally powerful. Heap really knows how to work her voice, flipping seamlessly between chest and head voice, and it complimented her exquisite piano playing impeccably. It was fun to hear the basis of some of the songs. The album's third track, "Oh Me, Oh My," was written in the midst of her label signing, and is about Heap "finding it hard to find a space for [herself]...a quiet spot in the city." "Shine," the following track, was composed during a trip to Keith Richard's house in Jamaica. All of her recording gear was left in a bad spot and got rained on, shorting everything out. The next day she decided to get a tan "for the first time in [her] life," but ended up getting burned quite badly. She went swimming, but got water stuck in her ears for a few days. She went out at night, but got bit by mosquitos all evening. Hearing this makes the lyrics "nature hates me today" actually make sense. A couple of tracks, "Sweet Religion," and "Whatever" are tributes to a love she held in Flint, Michigan. "Useless" was written during her parents split when she was twelve, but is also about being ignored in relationships, and was an especially heartfelt performance. While I loved all these tracks, my favorites of the night were "Come Here Boy" and "Sleep." "Come Here Boy," the song that ultimately got her the record deal, was written about Gary Hayes, a music technology teacher she fancied at age 16 (Heap now has a stuffed frog she brings on stage, named Gary). "I assumed he was having wet dreams about me," she disclosed to us. "Sleep" is the most beautiful track on the album, and she made it the prettiest one tonight as well. Her smooth, expressive piano playing contradicted the choppy, staccato style that accompanied much of her other music. The song was written on a whim, with the first take being the one on the album. It's about "the split second in the morning when you wake up and everything is perfect." "Candlelight" also had the potential to be great, but it had a few hangups. She forgot the words at the beginning, then stopped, asked for blue light, which didn't come on until half-way through the track (distractingly), and you could hear glasses clinking at the bar in the back, which really took me out of the song. I thought it would have been really beautiful if they had been able to light the song merely by candlelight, as there were already loads of candles all around. Overall it was a great night. Heap showed us her sense of humor throughout the evening, played her heart out and I met her afterwards in her dressing room. She towered above me. She's tall. The deal: buy her music and see her in concert when you can. She'll be working on a new album starting this May after she gets back from a potential Japan/Australia tour, but probably won't make it back to the States until early-mid 2008. The track list was I Megaphone straight through, and "Leave Me To Love" and "Kidding," two songs written during the same time period were the encores. |