K.D. Lang Receives Standing Ovation At The State Theatre

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Wednesday night at the State Theater was a night full of nostalgia for everyone but more importantly for Canadian singer K.D. Lang. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Ingénue. K.D.’s sophomore album Ingénue from 1992. Upon arrival, guests were bustling around the lobby, buying merch or grabbing drink before the show. I was blown away by the architecture of the State Theatre, as it was my first time in this venue and the surprises didn’t stop there.

Opening the show was Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, a band of brothers who musical style comes from their own compositions. The Australian duo have no boundaries when it comes to genres. With their guitars, Slava and Leonard dabble in jazz, folk and contemporary.

The Grigoryan Brothers and their guitars were the only things on stage. The simple set up was perfect for the blissful and soothing music they played. The fans enjoyed the duo’s light banter and self-deprecating humor. “We have a CD with us…actually we have many CDs…it has all of these songs on it AND more!” Lenard received a genuine chuckle from the audience. Between sets, there was brief intermission where many gathered around the merchandise table to meet with the Grigoryan Brothers and get an autographed CD.

The lights flashed signaling for everyone to take their seats. The blue curtains pulled back to reveal six band members already in their places. The moment K.D. sauntered on stage the crowd rose to their feet cheering her on. With a huge smile on her face, the bass player strummed the first cords to “Save Me”, the first record off Ingénue. As she sang I watched the crowd seeing couple holding hands, completely drawn in.

I noticed as “The Mind of Love” began, K.D. was performing barefoot. She seemed very confident in her choice of footwear, or her lack thereof. “A real wood stage, you have no clue how happy that makes me!” Lang remarked as she spoke about stubbing her toe the night before in Kansas. The audience embraces K.D. as the clapped and whistled. Lang went on to talk about the 25th anniversary of Ingénue stating, “…leaving us to realize we are seniors, a bunch of gay seniors everyone.”

K.D. told everyone at the venue they were going to attempt to play Ingénue in full and in sequence without stopping, something they said had not been attempting by any band in Minneapolis in less “Prince was really bored one night.” After informing us she would not be talking with again until after the performance, K.D. and her band broke out into “Wash Me Clean”.

As the performance continued, uninterrupted, the stage light was change with each mood the current song was tied to. Behind the band, there were large spotlight type lantern that lite up the stage adding a grand feel to the room, adding the alright elaborate performance hall. One aspect I appreciated were the musical solos that were adding to some of the songs. They highlighted the talent of each musician without changing the flow of the show.

K.D. concluded the Minneapolis show with “Constant Craving” which was hands down the fan favorite. When the last chords were finished the crowd instantly rose to its feet, a loud rumbling applause and cheer following. Lang had to wave the crowd down after several minutes, then thanking her band which caused the rumbling cheers of appreciation to start up all over again.

I wasn’t sure what to expect walking in, but I was blow away by the amount of heart and soul K.D. gave her performance. This was defiantly the show to be at that night.

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