A Magnificent Night With K.D. Lang
By Greg Haymes, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Mar. 15–SCHENECTADY — She’s not just that Canadian, vegan, lesbian, Buddhist cowgirl anymore.
Now she’s simply the best singer on the planet.
With her latest album, “Watershed,” and her spectacular concert Thursday at Proctors, k.d. lang has shed all of those quirky descriptors and blossomed into a mature vocal artist. Yes, truly an artist.
Backed by an excellent new five-piece band that provided a rich musical texture, lang soared through more than 90 minutes of magnificent music that hit upon all of the touchstones of her career but focused squarely on the here and now. In fact, she sang all but one of the songs from “Watershed,” and she sang them gloriously.
“I need a cigarette after that one,” she confided as she wrapped up her swinging jazz ballad “Sunday,” but, in fact, nearly all of her songs were languid, smoldering and supremely sensuous. They were songs of romance, dreamers and burning desire, from the opening volley of her statement of purpose “Upstream” (“I always swim upstream”) to the final encore of the existential lullaby “Shadow and the Frame.”
There’s still a bit of twang in lang’s torch songs, and pedal steel guitarist Joshua Grange and Brazilian guitarist Grecco Buratto brought it out into the spotlight on “Once in a While,” the hopeful “I Dream of Spring” and the south of the border ballad “Western Stars.”
But on Thursday, lang balanced the twang with the bossa nova of “Je Fais la Planche,” a minimalist rendition of Neil Young’s “Helpless,” the nostalgic camp of “Smoke Rings,” the old-school Appalachian country of “Paydirt” and the dreamy Beatles-like psychedelia of “Close Your Eyes.”
Through it all, the one constant was her incredible voice. She was in total command as she sang of redemption on the sublime “Wash Me Clean,” and she was simply unmatchable on the back-to-back pairing of Jane Siberry’s “The Valley” and Leonard Cohen’s oft-covered “Hallelujah,” both towering, majestic songs that lang claimed for her own, milking them for every ounce of emotion with stately elegance and a seemingly bottomless well of passion.
With an extraordinary vocal range, the barefoot singer in baggy black pants often soared into a falsetto that was equally confident and assured, never faltering. And it wasn’t really all about the power of her voice, either, but rather the extended moods that she was able to create and the unbelievable grace and effortlessness with which she sang.
The near-capacity crowd was as enthusiastic as ever, shouting out requests and proclamations of love almost from the moment that lang stepped into the spotlight, and lang did engage the audience a few times. But at other times, she seemed to almost ignore them, she was so musically focused.
Dustin O’Halloran opened the show with an elegant half-hour of solo piano instrumentals. Not pop, not jazz, but contemporary classical nuggets that drew inspiration from Chopin, Debussy and especially Erik Satie. His music was haunted yet heart-swelling, blissful yet bittersweet. And surprisingly well received.
Greg Haymes is the pop music writer for the Times Union. His column appears weekly in Preview. Send e-mail to Ghaymes@timesunion.com or call 454-5742.
Music review
k.d. lang
with Dustin O’Halloran
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Mainstage at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady
Highlights: “The Valley” and “Hallelujah”
Length: lang — 95 minutes; O’Halloran — 30 minutes
Crowd: A very enthusiastic, predominantly female (surprise!), nearly sold-out audience
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