Staff Blog
Regina Spektor @ Electric Factory, September 24
posted by Carolyn Huckabay
“Hey remember that time that I would only … what would I do?”
For a split second I thought to scream out “READ THE BACKS OF CEREAL BOXES!” with the rest of the crowd in what I imagined would be a fun call-and-response, since this audience seemed to be singing along every word to every song. But then Regina stopped strumming her sea-foam-green electric guitar and put her hand to her left temple, looking perplexed. “Wow, this is the biggest fuck-up so far on the American tour.”
Herein lies the beauty of Regina Spektor: No one can ignore that incredible voice, but what really makes us swoon is her imperfect charm — she lets her hair go wild, she doesn’t care what you think of her outfit, she fucks up her lyrics sometimes, she is never afraid to sound downright ugly.
In fact, part of the brilliance of her space-cadet moment during “That Time” was the freedom it gave her to really play with the rest of the song. “I thought I was gonna be sickghhhhghghhh,” she uttered gutturally, captivatingly uncivilized.
Regina lost it again (briefly and to howling applause) at the end of her 18-song set — which started and ended with songs from Far, her new album which stretches the boundaries of that infamous quirk factor. Backed by drums and a lovely string duo, Regina performed her first nine songs — including “Machine,” “One More Time with Feeling” and “Blue Lips” — seated at her piano; it wasn’t till “On the Radio” that she dismissed her accompanists and broke the Far streak (again, briefly and to howling applause).
This particular audience — full of couples holding hands and serenading each other (and even, in one holy-PDA moment, acting out her lyrics, “Remember that time we decided to kiss anywhere except the mouth?”) — was especially pumped for “Dance Anthem of the ’80s” off Far and pretty much anything from Begin to Hope.
Not surprisingly Regina threw in a few curveballs — “Bobbing for Apples,” “Carefully Laid Plans” and her last-of-five (five!) encore songs, “Love, You’re a Whore,” which let us see a whole new countrified version of our enigmatic Bronx-by-way-of-Russia princess of kitsch. Rodeo Regina may be an odd fit, but if history tells us anything, it’s that the weirder she gets, the more we love her.
The (Nearly) Complete Set List
1. The Calculation (Far)
2. Eet (Far)
3. Folding Chair (Far)
4. Ode to Divorce (Soviet Kitsch)
5. Machine (Far)
6. Laughing With (Far)
7. One More Time with Feeling (Far)
8. Two Birds (Far)
9. Blue Lips (Far)
10. On the Radio (Begin to Hope)
11. Dance Anthem of the ’80s (Far)
12. Bobbing for Apples
13. That Time (Begin to Hope)
14. Apres Moi (Begin to Hope)
15. Poor Little Rich Boy (Soviet Kitsch)
16. Carefully Laid Plans
17. Wallet (Far)
18. Man of a Thousand Faces (Far)
ENCORE
1. Samson (Begin to Hope)
2. Us (Soviet Kitsch)
3. Fidelity (Begin to Hope)
4. Hotel Song (Begin to Hope)
5. Love, You’re a Whore
“lets her hair go wild” – Page.
“she doesn’t care what you think of her outfit” – Mike
“she fucks up her lyrics sometimes” – Trey
“she is never afraid to sound downright ugly.” – John.
You saw Phish last night?!?!? Oh wait, Fishman never misses a beat…
Song #4 was “Ode to Divorce”, and it’s from Soviet Kitsch, meaning that the first nine songs were all from “Far” except for that one.
Thanks, Jeff — I spaced on the fourth song, but you’re right. Odd that she’d interrupt her all-new first half with an oldie, no?
Thanks for the amazing review and details!!!
I was at the show and you gave a perfect description of how magical the evening was!!! I have been looking for the set-list since the show because there were just too many songs and too much excitement to remember them all. She is a spectacular performer and I feel as though THIS SHOW IN PARTICULAR MUST HAVE BEEN HER BEST!!! Maybe its just cause I wast there….LOL.
She is a MUST SEE!!!