| Beth Orton arrived on
stage in jeans, a white oxford shirt and a yellow tie with brown dots --
looking like she couldn't decide if she wanted to be Annie Lennox or Annie
Hall. As it turned out, she was plenty of both, alternating personalities
between the über-confident, golden-throated ex-Eurythmic, and the sexy,
goofy and self-conscious Woody Allen heroine. And while Beth played both
parts perfectly, it was tough to figure which personality was genuine (if
either), or if that question even matters.
Orton's show at the 9:30 Club in
D.C. marked the final show of her mini-tour before the release of her
third album, Daybreaker, next month, and it may mark the beginning
of her transition from trip-hop diva to Americana queen. Orton's roots are
with the textured beats of the Chemical Brothers, but her new songs
indicate a slight return from electronica to a more traditional,
English-style songwriting.
Saturday's sold-out crowd
consisted largely of young, upwardly mobile couples -- couples of all
persuasion and variety, but with the common characteristic of stylish
shoes and expensive eyewear (if any). Almost all 1,200-plus of them tried
to politely jostle to the front of the room at precisely 11:10, moments
before the band took their instruments and Beth sauntered out. After a
quick "Hello, Washington", Beth led the band into "Paris
Train", from the upcoming Daybreaker album. The crowd was
quickly hypnotized, swaying and head-bobbing to the thrump-thrump of the
upright bass.
It's courageous to open a show
with a song most of the crowd has never heard, but Beth had an ace or two
in the hole. The sound was literally perfect. Beth strummed an acoustic,
and was joined by a violinist, cellist, second guitar player, acoustic
bass player, keyboard player and drummer. There were a lot of musicians up
there, yet every instrument sounded clear and full in the mix. And the
band was dead on. This show was the last of 17 gigs, and the band was
clearly locked-in, and the beneficiary of the 9:30 Club's fantastic
acoustics. Beth's vocals danced over the tasteful string section and the
deep-pocket rhythm section, and the crowd nodded their heads to every hit
of the soprano snare. "Paris Train" is a beautiful, blissful
tune, and the band seemed to lean back and let the music breathe, while
Beth showed off that voice that can obviously give so much more, but never
seems to feel the need. Of course, she uses it perfectly every time.
When the opening tune ended, the
crowd went about as wild as a Beth Orton crowd can get, and Beth grinned
sheepishly (or maybe a little smugly), chuckling at the yells of "I
love you" and "marry me, Beth". "I've got a joke for
you," Beth began, and then, after a few guffaws and false starts, she
told a whippersnapper of a tale about a guy who brings a giraffe into a
bar and gets him drunk on tequila shots. Orton had the bit down pat,
complete with head tosses for every shot, and neck-wobbling for every
giraffe swallow. The joke was corny as hell, but Beth (here, in Annie
Hall-mode) seemed well aware that this little quip was simply a great
excuse to let everyone know just how cute, sweet and fun she really is. I
know I bought it!
She continued this routine for
most of the night, oscillating between heartbreaking (but somehow
uplifting) songs like "Sweetest Decline" and "Galaxy of
Emptiness", and quick flirtations with the crowd and band. Although
it's almost in the job description, it always surprises me when
professional songwriters tell jokes or charm the crowd with anecdotes or
playful sarcasm. Are they afraid of coming across as too serious, or do
they think the crowd needs to recognize them as "real people"
who don't just sit in their room and create beautiful music all day and
night? Beth, for example, prefaced "Central Reservation" -- one
of her biggest hits (and a pretty heavy tune) -- with the comment "I
really need a piss!" It got a great laugh from everyone, but the
retreat from intimacy (or honesty) seemed a little self-conscious and
uncomfortable. Only when Beth shouted, "this is our last show,"
(and she said it more than a few times), did she really appear genuinely
moved. But even then, it was tough to tell whether she was sad about the
end of the tour, happy that it was a success, or just relieved to get it
all over with. Most likely, it was all these things.
After playing for about ninety
minutes, Beth took a little break, then returned for a three-song encore.
Arriving back from the break, Beth fired off a crack about spending the
time in the bathroom, and then introduced the encore as a song she sings
with Ryan Adams on her upcoming album. The song is "Concrete
Sky", and it offers further proof that Beth is altering her sound a
bit, perhaps influenced by Adams' Heartbreaker and Gold
albums, as well as by her friendship with Emmylou Harris, whom she met on
the 1997 Lillith Fair tour. Harris also duets with Beth on Daybreaker,
which is shaping up to be her most musically diverse and ambitious album
to date. Guitar icon Johnny Marr appears on four tracks, and that alone
should ensure record sales to half of Britain.
Clearly, Beth Orton has a lot to
offer, and she seems eager to experiment with her sound, no matter how
successful the style she is changing. Saturday's show indicates she's
bringing most of her fans along with her. Standing out among Saturday's
largely late 20s crowd was a group of five or six high school girls. The
group was unusual partly for its youth (although the 9:30 Club is all
ages, all the time), but mostly because the girls had formed a mini,
personalized mosh pit, and they were tossing themselves into one another
for most of the show, grinning and laughing the whole time. They'd made
Beth Orton into their own little Pantera, and weren't content to just
coolly bob and sway to the beats.
After the show, Beth Orton headed
back to her native England, and she'll soon tour Europe for a bit to
coincide with the release of Daybreaker. Hopefully, she'll return
to the States in the fall, or sooner, likely selling out some more
medium-sized venues and giving us her unique version of folk-rock,
trip-hop, Americana, or whatever you want it to be.
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