Natalie Merchant Concert Review! The Yost Theatre, Santa Ana CA, May 9th 2012! With Photo Gallery!
When I look back at my youth there are a few musical artists I can legitimately say have helped provide the soundtrack of my life. None so much as former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant however. With her rise to pop stardom in the early 1990’s, she has been a staple in my cd player, then my computer, then my I-Pod and now my I-Phone.
So, when I saw she was doing a rare concert here in Southern California I was more than excited. Then I realized it was in Santa Ana California. There aren’t many people I would brave Los Angeles rush hour traffic for, but Natalie is one of them.
Come on Natalie, not the Wiltern? Greek? El Rey? Sigh… After trudging through the traffic my friend Helen and I made our way to the theatre in gulp… Santa Ana… Now, maybe the Yost theatre in Santa Ana wasn’t used to actually having concerts but after dealing with
1. The Ticket Taker saying my tickets were fake.
2. Being directed to the balcony for my seat, then directed down to the lobby to get a wristband, then being directed outside, only to have to find a lady in a grey hat and then go back to the balcony to site down.
3. Having security check my wrist every 10 minutes for the wristband and then getting into a fight with the people next to me who were never told about the Alice in Wonderland hunt for the wristband which turned into a shouting match.
We finally settled in to seeing Natalie.
Now, I wasn’t expecting to see my beloved Natalie Merchant with striking grey hair. I know I shouldn’t even harp on such things but it took me off guard, I remember my Natalie with her signature long striking black hair. So, I’ll be honest it took me a second to get used to it.
Once Natalie opened her mouth however, it was the Natalie I remembered and more so. This was a rare one off concert and featured Natalie accompanied by her long time band mates Eric and Gabe and a bassist. The tendency with an acoustic show is slow arrangements and introspective songs and while most Natalie Merchant songs fit this description, Natalie did her best to make sure the evening was also peppered with light moments as well.
Opening with the amazing San Andreas Fault, it was clear Natalie’s voice was in fine form. It was also clear that this was going to be an evening full of classic Natalie songs with a few selections from, Leave Your Sleep thrown in for good measure.
Now, the thing with a Natalie Merchant show is, you could get stoic Natalie who doesn’t really talk to the audience, you could get super silly Natalie who tells off kilter stories and makes jokes with Gabe all night or a variation of the three. Now, I prefer the silly Natalie, I love hearing her observations on life and unique stories about what happened to her during the day. This show was most definitely the silly Natalie.
Natalie busted out random covers ranging from Proud Mary, to Everyday People, to Dance With Me, to what I suspect was the start of Into The Mystic by Van Morrison but Eric her guitarist didn’t know it. I love shows like this, they are not the prepackaged concerts you see in the big arenas. This was a show for fans who can just appreciate the artist they love.
Throughout the night Natalie lectured us on “being in the moment” and not recording the show and uploading it to youtube, and even brought a young boy on stage and interviewed him. LOL… Not your average concert going experience to say the least.
The evening consisted of selections from Tigerlily including Wonder, Carnival, River, and a heavy portion of Motherland including the title track, Build a Levee, Tell Yourself, Saint Judas and Golden Boy. Towards the end of the evening Natalie played a “sort of new” song, Texas. Which is amazing. There were even a few 10,000 Maniacs songs thrown in for good measure like These Are Days, Gold Rush Brides, and Don’t Talk.
The crowd was interesting… That’s the best word I can use to describe it, there were sections who were loud, boisterous and rude at times, but the majority of the people there were simply transfixed by the performance. It was an amazing night that I will not soon forget.
A lot of people have asked me over the years, “why do you love Natalie Merchant?” and I’ve boiled it down to this. Her voice is and even persona really is to me, like my grandmother telling me a story, very much like our forefather had to do years ago. It’s from another time almost another era. and I for one am very thankful for that!
Check Out More Photos From The Show Below!
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Mike did you try for the autograph?
I must have missed you. I got her earlier around 2pm. She seem to be scooping the place out more so than arriving for a sound check. I wished I could have stuck around and see the show. It was purely a financial reason why I couldn’t go. Sounds like you had a good time.
Thanks for posting these great photos and your recap of (what I felt) was an amazing show. I’ve seen her perform a dozen times over the last 17 years and this was, without a doubt, the loosest and most fun and interactive I’ve seen her to date. That voice hasn’t aged at all, which remains the primary reason I traveled all the way from Portland to catch this one. (Billed as an acoustic show in a tiny venue…couldn’t possibly miss out on the rare West Coast opportunity!)
Must admit that I’ve never seen her less prepared or rehearsed (probably the byproduct of her playing “only two shows a year”) in terms of forgetting lyrics, not being more in sync with her musicians, going a little A.D.D. in the middle of songs to share an observation or interact with the audience and abadoning the song halfway through (disappointed that this was the case for “Gold Rush Brides”), pulling out of songs altogether (“Sally Ann”)….but, all in all, it was refreshing to see this side of her, and an artist who is so completely in charge and comfortable in her own skin. Thought it was hilarious that she opened with a quasi-explanation of “Why the Yost?” rather than the Hollywood Bowl or The Greek, which I’m sure was on the very minds of all those in attendance. This is someone who clearly doesn’t need to do these performances, but I absolutely love that she throws us a bone and keeps us falling in love with her all over again.
After the “Leave Your Sleep” tour and stoic performance (which got mixed reviews, although I consider it her finest and most innovative work and performance to date), it was nice to see her complete opposite approach to her show at the Yost. It will be interesting next month to see her in SF and Seattle, when she performs with symphonies….so not expecting her playful side to come out for those shows.
Not bad for a 48-year old mother.
Hi Mike,
Great review! I too was able to make the show and loved her humor throughout. I can’t say I would stand 2 & 1/2 hours for many performers (I didn’t get a lucky seat) but for Natalie, any day. It’s been years since I’ve seen her live, so a small venue such as The Yost was perfect for the intimate experience.
Thanks for sharing the photos as it was obviously NOT your camera that was taken.
Yeah, I’m so glad it was at least in CA. Usually natalie is NY based so this was a treat!
Dear Mike,
Thanks so much for sharing this review and the pictures! I was there and thought the show was absolutely beautiful. Words can’t describe how much I love Natalie.
🙂 Danielle