LIVE REVIEWS
Review of 5/14/99 show at Exile Books & Music – Doktor Davis
“I’m biased towards Ms. Court, as she was the only performer to come early for sound-check, which always wins big points with me. Then she delivers an arresting set of songs, playing her KAWAI digital piano,(massive thing….I thought it was an old analog piece incredibly preserved; turns out it’s so new it is one of two west of the Mississippi River…go figure). Drawing inspiration from the Brothers Grimm to Shakespeare, her performance evoked an old-world gothicism and romantic lushness. Her well-read literacy was reflected in her lyrics, which she sang with a sort of contained passion, effortlessly shifting from a strong alto, to a breathy high keen. She reminded me of a young Kate Bush; powerful yet flirtatious, playful yet in command. In a word, plush. And she played a song in 7 time!! I’m a sucker for unusual time sigs! “
Review of 5/9/99 show at Kells Irish Pub (Seattle) – Neile Graham
“Tamar, Jim, and I headed down to the quiet Sunday evening Pike Place Market (what! No trouble parking???) to Kells Pub to hear Susan Court come out to play for the first time in way too long–this was the first time we’ve seen Susan live in, what, 18 months? Two years? Since well before last summer’s release of _High Relief_ in any case.
Anyway, she really burned up her new keyboard–the piano basis of the songs was front and center, and it was impressive. This is the first time I’ve heard her do these arrangements of the songs and they were knockouts, and we also got to hear about 4 new, wonderful songs. Susan’s piano work is strong enough that I didn’t miss her wonderful studio backup musicians.
My only complaint was I would have liked her voice to be a snick higher in the mix.
Great show, and the pub crowd was actually fairly quiet and I know a lot of people were there to see Susan. I hope this is the start of many more Seattle performances–the next one for Seattle audiences is in August, but she’s playing Tacoma June 19th.
Before then, though, she’s going to California:
Sherman Oaks, May 14th, 8 pm, Exile Books & Music
Santa Barbara, May 15th, 4 pm, Borders Books & Music
Ventura CA, May 15th 8 pm, Garden Village Cafe
Don’t miss her if she’s anywhere near you.”