A small but appreciative group of fans showed up on Thursday night to see the great Lisa Germano perform a nice, long set which was well-balanced between classic tunes and her new album, In a Maybe World. She opened on guitar with Geek the Girl's "My Secret Reason" and Happiness' "The Earth", then switched to her Korg keyboard for most of the rest of the set.I'd never seen Germano perform before despite being a fan for longer than I can remember (I don't believe she's played a solo show in the DC metro area any time in the last six years, although she has appeared with Neil Finn and the Eels). With an artist like Germano, who doesn't have any hits, per se, you really don't know what to expect with the set list. Of course I knew she'd play a good number of tunes from In a Maybe World, but beyond that it was a mystery. I went in with low expectations, hoping to hear a few of my favorites.
Fortunately it seems my favorites from her catalogue also seem to be hers. "Wood Floors", from the peerless Slide, sounded just about perfect, a beloved warm blanket. She went to on play lots of songs from Slide, including "When I Think of Love" and "Reptile", as well as my favorite song from Exceprts from a Love Circus, "Small Heads". She seemed very much at ease playing piano, once commenting that she didn't like to stop between songs, preferring to lose herself in the music. A friend who didn't know her music called it very "sensual", an apt description; to me it was just Lisa Germano. The new material sounded better and more immediate live, especially the soaring "Into Oblivion".
I met her afterwards; she sold merch from the stage, including a cool rarities disc with a handmade cover, Rare Unusual or Just Bad Stories (which you can also order off her web site). She was kind enough to let me have the set list and sign it. Please go see her play; she'll be in Europe through November and back for another US leg in December.
Also see a nice interview with Germano in Wears the Trousers magazine.
MP3: Lisa Germano - Too Much Space
4 comments:
Damn, I missed the show. Too much going on last Thursday. The Rapture, The National, and Lisa Germano...what time did she go on?
Is she coming back to the DC area in December?
I'm pretty sure December is a West coast leg...
Yeah...just saw the dates on young god records website.
You have great taste!
Joe
I keep hoping someone will post a concert from Lisa's current tour to download for us avid fans who've missed her this year. The show you saw sounds like it would have been a great one to hear. Oh well. Maybe she'll make a Live CD available for purchase on her website for Xmas!:) "Dear Santa..."
I read on an elbo.ws blog entry from November 11th that she's cancelled her entire European schedule. If this is true, does anyone know why???
Hope she's okay...
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