Joanna Newsom practice, practice, practices in NYC

November 23, 2010, at Carnegie Hall

By Gabrielle Moss
Published: November 27th, 2010 | 7:00am

As Joanna Newsom quite literally pranced onto the stage for her sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, wearing a diaphanous purple dress and an enormous grin, it was hard not think of how beautifully bizarre and yet completely appropriate it was for her to be there. Carnegie Hall—a name long synonymous with the best of classical music—has been dipping a toe into the world of indie rock recently, booking the likes of Andrew Bird and the Books. But none of them make quite as much sense in the space as Newsom, whose harp-based orchestral-folk exemplifies the same ingenious meeting of baroque and pop that holding a rock concert in the old New York Philharmonic auditorium does.

Kicking things off with a bubbly and minimal version of The Milk-Eyed Mender’s “Bridges and Balloons” seemed like a nod to how improbable this evening might have seemed six years ago when the song was first released and Newsom was pigeonholed as an adorable oddity—a freaky, folky wood-nymph. This performance should be the final nail in that misperception’s coffin: concert-goers saw an incredibly focused, accomplished, and original musician working at the peak of her powers.

Newsom and her backing band—whose five members covered everything from drums, guitar, and violin to trombone, recorder, and jaw harp—played expert arrangements of songs spanning her entire career, making excellent use of what was described as the building’s “acoustic properties that are kind of magic.”

Launching into an impassioned rendition of the epic “Have One on Me,” it was clear what, well, it’s hard work to do what Newsom does. Her vocals and harp-playing can seem effortless on her albums, but in person, it was impossible to ignore the intense physical realities of her music-making—Newsom vigorously plucks out patterns on her enormous harp or plays intricate piano all while projecting her words with emotive energy. She’s a tireless performer, playing with her whole body, singing with her whole face like an opera diva, and endlessly cracking wise between songs, as if to contradict those who might like to imagine her as some fragile Botticelli angel, meekly picking out melodies on her harp. (When a fan shouted out “What’s it like to be a goddess?” Newsom suggested he write a letter to Dolly Parton to find out.)

Newsom is a vocal gymnast, but not in the way that phrase is typically tossed around. She’s not a Celine Dion-type showboater, but rather, her voice is a supple, flexible instrument, jumping back and forth between the Appalachia-influenced singing of her debut to the more refined and traditional sounds of Have One on Me, capable of soaring to the greatest heights of her strange world.

Many songs were expanded and given a shot of energy and warmth, like “Good Intentions Paving Company,” which evolved its rhythmic, life-affirming piano-banjo-and-drums groove and, with the addition of handclaps and a revival meeting-style backing chorus, turned into a joyous foot-stomper. A positively orchestral “Emily” followed, the tiny band’s massive sound filling every nook and cranny of the house with luscious melody. The set closed with a drastic re-imagining of the early Newsom song “Peach, Plum, Pear,” now guitar-based with thundering drums, orchestral harp flourishes, and new dramatic peaks and valleys courtesy of regal trombones and silky smooth violins. This girlish slip of a pop song grew up into a mature, complicated, and moving anthem—the perfect metaphor for Newsom’s own musical journey to that very stage.

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