Looking for a gift for Natalie Merchant? Strike Columbia Restaurant gift certificate from the list.
The ex-10,000 Maniacs singer blamed the restaurant for a case of food poisoning and made her displeasure a running gag throughout Tuesday's concert before a Ruth Eckerd Hall crowd of 1,780.
In between running down the Columbia, Merchant performed a set the early part of which focused on her recent "Leave Your Sleep" album.
The collection features 19th and 20th century poems by, for and about children, which Merchant set to music. Each of the selections was preceded by a brief biography of its writer, which were occasionally interesting and less often amusing, and which could have been excised to make room for a couple more songs.
Merchant, backed by as many as eight musicians on a given piece, showed an impressive grasp of musical styles. Cajun sound brought Ogden Nash's "The Adventures of Isabel" to life, while "The Dancing Bear" shimmied to an Eastern European melody.
"The Janitor's Boy" was sweetly swinging, befitting a poem by a 9-year-old writer, Nathalia Crane, while banjo and pipes created a Far Eastern mood for "The King of China's Daughter."
The second portion featured Merchant's self-penned material, and it's too bad she didn't better utilize her band, which included a woodwinds player and a string trio.
The guitar and bass backing on "Wonder," "Carnival" and "Hey Jack Kerouac," was a let down after the rich sonic banquet of the "Leave Your Sleep" material, perhaps mirroring the plain diet Merchant likely will be on for a day of so.
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