Suzanne Vega and iTunes Live

Please excuse the terrible picture. I only took two before becoming entranced in the show and I have the world’s most inappropriately shaky hands for taking pictures in dark surroundings, helpful as that is.

Tuesday’s iTunes Live event at Koko opened with a rousing performance from Seth Lakeman, starting with a hoedown that passed pure electricity into the crowd. Appreciation came back to the stage in waves with each in waves to the stage and brought a beaming smile to Lakeman’s face, only encouraging him and the band to pump more energy back into the performance. A string of darker songs followed, before coming full circle to end with an upbeat jig and to rapturous applause. For an outsider, Lakeman was enjoyable if a little hard to follow for those unfamiliar with his material.

A short and mellow interlude was capped with an iTunes Live video showcasing more typical British acts from Kasabian to Travis, mostly male guitar bands except for Groove Armada and Amy Winehouse, the latter being the standout of the snippets of last year’s festival.

Suzanne Vega was introduced to a warmer welcome than expected; it had felt like the crowd was full of Lakeman fans. After opening with her moody recounting of David and Goliath, Rock In This Pocket, anyone previously unfamiliar with her was woken up by the skillful introduction.

The set was littered with a few slower numbers including the toned down version of Left of Center, Vega’s popular contribution to the soundtrack of high school flick Pretty in Pink. Staples Small Blue Thing and The Queen and the Soldier also featured, but were almost overshadowed by the night’s emotional highlight. The wintery Cracking, the first track from her 1985 debut album, was delivered with beautifully understated flair that delicately exposed its emotionally fragile core.

The style of most of the material is gentle enough that newcomers can actively think about Vega’s detailed lyrics and feel their impact without extensive prior exposure. The breakneck pace of Blood Makes Noise was easy enough to follow, and even a dedicated fan could not fail to be impressed by Vega’s aplomb throughout its delivery.

Suzanne Vega

The set ignored only one album, 1990’s Days of Open Hand, and otherwise featured a good spread of tracks from her back catalogue, rather than placing a heavy focus on the most recent album, 2007’s Beauty & Crime. The rocky relationship of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner (Frank & Ava) from that album was the most mainstream song, and Vega maintained the momentum served by Lakeman with plenty of rhythmic highlights from her back catalogue, such as the frisky Fat Man & Dancing Girl and the playful Solitaire.

The night culminated with an encore of classics Luka and Tom’s Diner, with band accompaniment to recreate the feel of the latter’s famous DNA remix, so that departing fans were thoroughly satisfied by the range of material.

She has just completed a small number of live dates around the UK, and this show will be available for purchase on the iTunes Store. Vega’s banter and engagement of the audience is best experienced first hand. so I recommend keeping an eye on her website for future live dates. 

Set list (out of order):

Cracking
Marlene On The Wall
Small Blue Thing
The Queen And The Soldier
Tom’s Diner
Luka
Calypso
Gypsy
Rock In This Pocket (Song of David)
Blood Makes Noise
Fat Man & Dancing Girl
When Heroes Go Down
Caramel
Stockings
Penitent
It Makes Me Wonder
Solitaire
Pornographer’s Dream
Frank & Ava