Carlile in Concert

The thing about Brandi Carlile, we’ve learned, is that her voice cannot be restrained to a little plastic disc. This girl can sing.

Opening the show was Gibb Droll, a mostly solo performer whose ownership of the guitar was nothing short of staggering. The crowd, both perplexed and amazed, watched as this one-man band literally built layer upon layer of sound on his own, ultimately producing something that would not have been better if he’d had ten other guitarists on-stage with him. Using a kind of multi-track recorder/playback system, Droll was able to duplicate himself and play the parts of lead, rhythm, bass and anything else he wanted. In between songs, he charmed the crowd with his somewhat shy banter, telling us, “I’m an old punk-rocker.” He said he used to be into the Misfits, but admitted, “I usually didn’t know what they were saying.” He then broke into an enthusiastic cover of the Misfits’ “Horror Business” (which he mistakenly called “Psycho ’78”).

Droll also claimed that, though he’s been a vegetarian for 8 years, Brandi convinced him to try a Dick’s burger earlier that day. “I’m not feeling so hot,” he said, “but it was delicious.” Droll then dedicated his next song, “You Won’t Bring Me Down,” to the cow he ate.

Next, Ms. Brandi Carlile took the stage… and blew us all away. Her guitar playing: solid. Her voice: clear, honest, intimate, powerful. She didn’t have to finish her first song before we decided this girl was the real deal.

As Carlile and the Hanseroth twins moved through the set, they seemed to give themselves over to each song with the kind of physical abandon usually reserved for the encore. Carlile gave 100% of her body, her voice, and her sweat to each song in an impressive show of dedication, stopping briefly between songs to say, “Thanks so much,” and, “This is our biggest show… ever.”

Performance highlights:

Near the end of the show, Gibb Droll joined Carlile onstage for a lively, foot-stomping rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

After the homage to Cash, Carlile’s younger sister, Tiffany joined her for a beautiful duet performance of “Calling All Angels,” wherein Tiffany provided a heart-fluttering falsetto, perfectly complimenting Brandi’s low to midrange tones.

#1 Highlight: The song which brought the evening to a close. Carlile’s gut-wrenching, soul-twisting, solo performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

It will likely be another year or so before Brandi Carlile rolls back into Seattle. In the meantime, check out her Live From Neumo’s EP, released earlier this year.