Madeleine Peyroux Concert in Seattle
Sunday 04/18/2010 I had the pleasure of seeing Madeleine Peyroux live for the first time at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in downtown Seattle. A friend and I had front row seats, literally sitting two feet away from Madeleine and her band. We also had the best table neighbors in Juanita and Ed, who had just gotten married after 21 years of knowing each other, congratulations!
Miss Peyroux opened up in a playful mood, trying to warm up the rather laid back audience. Already in the first song all the band members were introduced with short soli:
Starting on the left of the stage was Gary Versace playing piano, keyboard and a what looked like a Hammond B-3 organ which sounded fantastic. Gary really went to town on that one but kept things more subdued on the other instruments.
Next was Jon Herington, who played guitar and ukelele, excelling at solos as well as harmonizing very well with Madeleine's own guitar playing. Jon had multiple short and two extended soli and had great stage presence without overpowering his band mates.
To the right or Madeleine and more in the background was Barak Mori playing the double bass (mostly plucking but occasionally using the bow) or electric bass. He too had two extended soli, especially his second one was quite long and groovy.
Last but not least was Darren Beckett playing the drums. He played really well, used the brushes a lot and impressed with lots of variety.
The concert was great with Madeleine and her band really getting the room going after 2, 3 songs. Good move playing the well-known "Don't Wait Too Long" early on to get the audience in the mood. Her singing was a bit more embellished than on the CD but that went very well with the intimate somewhat under-lit setting of the club. No specific album was dominant in the set list with 3 songs coming from her "Careless Love" and "Half The Perfect World" albums, 2 songs from the "Bare Bones" and 1 song from the "Dreamland" album.
Overall I did think the concert was a bit short, she played for less than 1 hour and a half, just 13 songs total. On the other hand I also understand that she had to do a second concert that night at 10 pm and had played double shows every night for three days prior.
Still a great show with wonderful vocals and music from Madeleine and her fantastic band. And of course also in part to the great food at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, my good friend who accompanied me and our wonderful table neighbors Juanita and Ed.
I'll definitely see Madeleine Peyroux again when she comes to Seattle!
Madeleine Peyroux, vocals & guitar
Jon Herington, guitar, ukelele
Gary Versace, piano, keyboard,Hammond B-3
Barak Mori, bass
Darren Beckett, drums
Set list
- I Hear Music
- Don't Wait Too Long
- La Javanaise
- I Must Be Saved
- Half The Perfect World
- All I Need Is A Little Bit
- Rooftop
- No Better
- Ophelia
- Reckless Blues
- This Is Heaven To Me
- Dance Me To The End Of Love
- Instead