Wearing her teal-green Amazon woman outfit, Dar Williams took the stage at the Sheldon Concert Hall last Thursday night, barefoot and cradling her guitar. In a show sponsored by Washington University’s Acoustic City, this petite powerhouse revealed her compilation of quirky lyrics and refined acoustic skills.-According to the artist, she lacked only a conch shell and a spear-to kill off strange men to complete her Amazon-woman motif.
Williams is currently touring with her fourth solo album, The Green World and fellow female folk singer/songwriter Catie Curtis.
Curtis and her mandolin player, Jimi Rein, opened the show debating whether or not another performer could “wa” someone else’s “wa-wa” peddle (an electronic distortion apparatus). During the opening an audience sing-along, Curtis performed an experiment and reached a scientific conclusion that you cannot “wa” another’s “wa-wa.”
Curtis shouldn’t be the opening act but part of a duo tour with Dar Williams. Her raw talent as a songwriter and overall artistic performance ability makes her a worthy headliner. This simply-dressed small-town woman shared her stories and emotionally packed creations as she rocked out the Sheldon.
Curtis recounted the last time she was in St. Louis for a stop on the Lillith Fair tour. The artist was one of the side stage performers, but she was invited on stage headliner Sarah McLachlan to join in the sing-along finale. Curtis was assigned one line from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” She couldn’t accept a flower from Natalie Merchant because was gripping the microphone stand with both hands, out of nervousness. Her story earned a few laughs, intensified the intimacy of the show and worked well as a segue into her next song “Soulfully,” a bluesy ballad about a woman’s desire to be with someone who had the capacity to be completely with her.
Curtis ended her set with a strong two song finale that featured “Radicle” and “Burn Your Own House Down”, a song about a church that burned down in her hometown in Maine. As the light reflected from her guitar danced about the walls of the concert hall and across the eyes of the attentive audience, Curtis concluded her soulful delivery of modern, women’s folk music.
While Curtis could have remained on stage and not suffered bruises from objects thrown by the audience, it was time for the Amazon woman and her four-member band to take the stage. Dar Williams began with a softer, deeper and slightly-disappointing voice compared to Curtis’ powerful soprano. Williams sounded muffled due to the contrast between the two artists. However, her first song of the set proved to be a warm-up instead of a theme for the night. As she bounded into the first notes of her next song, “I won’t be your Yoko Ono” her presence was felt.
Williams has turned rambling into a beautiful form of storytelling. In between songs, she would dive off into this artistic world and re-emerge dripping with rich, complicated and sometimes-random images of the world. William’s randomness makes her performances unique because they bring her audiences into her little world, the world from which her songs emerge.
The show featured a number of the tracks from Williams’ current album, The Green World, such as “Spring Street,” “And a God Descended” and “Another Mystery.” Each of the songs feature Williams’ accomplishments as a guitar player and songwriter. However, all the songs performed Thursday night were a delightful mix of quirky emotion and acoustic guitar strumming.
The great surprise of the night, however came from Williams’ bass player, Gailand Doisey, another female singer/songwriter. During one portion of the set, Williams’ moved backstage and let Doisey take the spotlight she deserved. As Doisey’s deep, gospel voice filled the auditorium, one couldn’t help but notice how well Williams worked backup vocals.
Williams concluded her show with the old favorite “When I was a boy,” an appropriate finish to a night dedicated to women at the Sheldon.
