Concert Review: Regina Spektor
By Saba Mohtasham
Nov. 2, 2009 10:16 a.m.
From the moment she took the stage of the Greek Theatre on Oct. 28, Regina Spektor had the crowd wrapped around her very talented fingers.
Wrapped in a poofy white dress adorned with an oversized black bow on her chest and her reddish brown hair dangling like little ribbons
about her shoulders, Spektor looked much like the Russian doll that she is.
This New York-based singer-songwriter spent the majority of her set gracing the piano with her presence while a drummer and a quartet of
strings helped carry her sound to the very top of the hill that the theater rests on.
Spektor captured all the right elements of a spectacular performance ““ her voice was even more charming live and she completely opened her heart and bared her soul through every song. Unfortunately, it appeared the concert technicians were out to ruin the night.
The employees in charge of lighting repeatedly blinded the audience while failing to hit Spektor with the right spotlight, causing the crowd to frequently stare at a black jumbo screen.
The cameramen spent most of the night focusing on a profile shot of Spektor as she played the piano, which, while highlighting her rosy cheekbones, became boring rather quickly. At one point, they tried to get a close-up of her fingers on the piano keys and successfully gave us a view of the back of her shoulder.
Still, none of this stood in the way of Spektor’s immeasurable talent ““ not even the weather. This indecisive weather decided to give all
the attendees a brisk slap in the face. As the sea of pea coats swayed to Spektor’s musical styling, so did the trees. But even as the wind blew her wavy coif into her eyes, Spektor didn’t let it disrupt her endless rhythm and somehow came off as even more charming than before.
The woman could sing the “Thong Song” and leave you fawning.
She stuck to her own euphonic melodies and proved her limitless range in voice and her many instrumental talents. During “Poor Little Rich Boy,”Spektor played the piano with her left hand while she drummed away on a wooden chair with her right, never missing a beat on either.
Surprisingly, this woman who sings with such confidence couldn’t get through a sentence when speaking to the audience without a handful of “ums.” Of course the audience found this just adorable ““ it found everything she did just adorable ““ but it still seemed somewhat out of character.
Despite technical difficulties and difficult weather, Spektor put on a great show. I guess I’ll never really know if it was her high notes or the nippy breeze that gave me chills, but I want to say it was her voice.
Spektor commented on the crowd’s chills, saying, “I hope our love is keeping you all warm.” It wasn’t, but what a nice thing to say.
E-mail Mohtasham at [email protected]
