Suzanne Vega @ The Hotel Cafe - 6/5/07

I am sitting
In my office
There are yuppies
Who are yelling

I am looking
At my speaker
I am raising up
The volume

And I'm pouring
Over paperwork
And thinking of Hawaii

When I feel
Big brother watching me
And so I take a call

Dut dut dut dah
Dut dut-dut dah
Dut dut dut dah
Dut dut-dut dah

Oh this post it will continue
With a review of the concert
It was flawless and engaging...
...I am thinking of her voice

KCRW presented Suzanne Vega at the Hotel Café Tuesday night, and though the event lacked a host and she was forced to do her own introduction, the skinny minnie songstress -- in a black-on-black, dress-on-pants ensemble -- was the consummate professional and as alluring as ever.

Accompanied by keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, Vega and her paradoxical voice (how can a tone so flawlessly even, and emotionless, be both warm and cool, and also sexy) played a thirteen song set including tracks from her new record Beauty & Crime (Blue Note) and selects from her catalog.

With an easy and dry stage banter, she took us on a tour of the new album with Anniversary, Pornoghrapher's Dream, and New York Is A Woman standing out in the new material. Her register of past achievements included A Brazilian, breathy, Caramel, and a stark and stunning Left of Center. However, In Liverpool, was the clear highlight of the show, with a picking intro like a ticking clock, and a chorus of exploding light.

Dressed up with woodblocks and surf riffs, or stripped down to just her voice and a bass, the Vega sound is unwavering. It conveys that intangible, ubiquitous feeling, regardless of how you vary the arrangement. She is a solid force of unshakable songwriting, with a dead on delivery like a slightly deviant lullaby. Her music is a personal romance.

Her first mainstream hit, Luka, which earlier she told us would signify the near end of the show, was a crowd pleaser -- if a song about domestic abuse can really count as such. And a long, trancelike, spaced-out version of Tom’s Diner (which apparently is at 112th and Broadway) was remarkably captivating live, yet still it tops my list of ‘most unlikely hits’ that I struggle to explain. I think people have a fascination with the mundane. Or they just can’t resist phonetic syllables. It’s a toss up.

Apologetically, she confessed to having no songs about Los Angeles because she’s still not sure if LA is a man or a woman. A kindly patron yelled suggestions of “trannie” and “hermaphrodite,” however if that is truly the case, I doubt it would help to clear up her gender issues regarding our city.

SV and crew will be back in the fall to bewitch the El Rey. Be there.

SUZANNE VEGA - BLOOD MAKES NOISE @ THE HOTEL CAFE 6/5/07

Photos by Lisa Brenner
Setlist and Video by otterfreak via Flickr