It was my second time at The Cedar in 3 days and after Monday’s Pop/Fun Fest. Wednesday night brought a more serious note. Vanessa Carlton’s tour promoting her new album “Liberman”
Joshua Hyslop a Canadian Singer/Songwriter started the evening. That chap goes to some very dark places for inspiration and turns it into beautiful music. He shared with the audience how his songs came to be.Hyslop twice near death experience in India or his homeless friend dying of an overdose and he having to identify the body shaped his music and his lyrics.
But he was not all darkness. It may have been his visit to Al’s Breakfast that brightened his day, but Hyslop was not afraid to lighten up the mood. Two of his songs “Hallelujah” and “Let it go” share the title with popular namesakes but he pointed out that he never even saw Frozen.
I enjoyed his smooth voice the genuine emotion on his songs.
Vanessa Carlton on the other hand has almost 20 years of show biz under her belt. Her current album “Liberman” takes the singer/songwriter in a new direction with a more electronic feel. Carlton took the stage announcing: “Don’t be fooled. There’s not tea in this mug.” She opened with a Tom Petty cover and then played a couple of her classic songs. The middle of her set was dedicated to new material before closing out with more classics.
I liked the songs from Liberman quite a bit and the audience seemed to agree with me. Carlton shared stories between songs. One of them was about her younger brother suffering from female class mates quoting lines from her hit “White Houses” to him to no end. Turns out those lines were not even written by her but a co-writer. Overall the set brought the best of the old and new Vanessa Carlton together.
Set List:
Learning To Fly / Carousel (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
Tall Tales for Spring
White Houses
Take It Easy
Willows
House of Seven Swords
Operator
Blue Pool
Nothing Where Something Used to Be
River
I Don’t Want to Be a Bride
A Thousand Miles
Encore:
Get Good
The Marching Line
