Norah Jones at Marymoor, Redmond, WA 08/05/2003

Posted by erikmyhre - 2003-08-07

Norah's show on Tuesday, August 5th in Redmond, Washington sounded great, and was very good, however the crowd seemed distracted by the sudden rain showers. After the driest summer in years, Seattlites were unprepared for a small thunderstorm on the evening of Norah's second-ever trip to the Emerald City. Norah expressed sympathy for those with, as she put it, "soggy bottoms," but appeared mostly unaffected by the inclimate weather. Her bassist, however, was not so fortuante, as some kind of leak in the stage covering was apparently dripping slightly onto his part of the stage. "That's just not cool," joked Norah. After opening with Cold, Cold, Heart, Norah commented that it "smells like rain." Soon enough, we in the crowd learned why, as rainclouds passed overhead at as gentle a pace as Norah's songs. The skys eventually dried, as Norah continued with what I assume was a typical setlist. When it was time for her encore, the heavens again tried to upstage Norah, as the moon formed a cloudy halo above Norah's stage.

Norah sounded terrific, as did her band. Jesse's absense was noticed by some in the audience, but Adam really got into the act on more than a few songs. The only complaint I had as a concertgoer was not the rain itself, but the distraction it caused amongst the audience. When it was really coming down, many were rudely laughing and chattering, which made it more difficult to concentrate on the music. Hopefully Norah didn't recognize this distraction, as those in the front were predictibly better-behaved. Another thing I thought was odd was that the audience didn't seem familiar with how to applaud a jazz-like performance (clapping to appreciate a solo). I suspect this was due to both the distraction of the weather, and what might be a relative inexperience amongst the audience when it comes to jazz/improvisational performances.

Particularly fun were Norah's new and unreleased songs. She's been quoted as saying they're more upbeat, and the majority of new songs I heard fit that description. But much to my relief, it's still the same 'ol Norah sound, even if it is a bit more jaunty. Her duet with opening artist Richard Julian was particularly fun, as was the blusey re-make of an old AC/DC tune, the latter of which evoked memories of Bonnie Rait-- not so much for Norah's sound as for the intense slide guitar.

All in all, a great show, with a few minor distractions.

Here is a newspaper's review of the show: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/133897_norahq.html


(Apologies for the fuzzy photo, my camera didn't seem to focus in the darkness well. No flash was used, by the way).

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