notes on a show

Ari Hest, Julian Velard and Marianne Keith, 11/06, New York

ari and julian

I am pretty much in love with acoustic rock crooner Ari Hest. Freshman year of college, Iza and I borrowed a car from an acquaintance we barely knew to schlep to Raleigh for his concert on the eve of my Chem 21 final exam. The venue was hardly full, but the imaginary duet with Norah Jones-- he sang her parts in falsetto--and the chance to meet him after the show were TOTALLY worth an almost failing grade in the class. Since then, I've grown up (I'd like to think I'm a bit more responsible) and so has Ari.

iza, ari, and myself way back in 2004.

Last Thursday's performance at Village hotspot Le Poisson Rouge, an intimate cabaret-style venue with seating in the round (and a stellar bar menu-- choices include tater tots, PB&J, and milk and cookies), was nothing short of amazing.

Opener Marianne Keith is today's answer to the Paula Coles and Jewels of the 90s...and while I have a clear preference for male singers, her performance was sweet (to the point where Lindsey and I wondered if fellow concertgoers thought we were on a lesbian date). Her song "Kiss Me in the Rain" is full of folksy flavor and sentiment.

Next up was piano rock hottie Julian Velard. I was unfamiliar with his poppy, carefree music before that night, but I left a fan. His energy is contagious, his humor is raunchy, his songs are guaranteed to make you happy. Lindsey describes him as John Legend meets Matt Costa, with a frat boy attitude. Our personal favorite-- a spirited cover of Chris Brown's "Forever."

Finally, the man of the hour, Sir Ari Hest (not actually knighted but royalty in my eyes). Drawing his set list heavily from 52, a one-song-per-week project begun in January of 2008 after leaving his record label, Ari's trademark baritone and contemplative guitar once again reached the very depths of my music-loving soul. He made sure to touch on old favorites such as "Annemarie" and "So Slow," but the song that nearly brought tears to my eyes was an acoustic/sans band rendition of the sweet sweet lullaby "I've Got You." I LOVE this song--its lyrics capture the earnest longing of true affection, wrapped up in a simple melody that still showcases Ari's vocal talents. Basically I died.

I managed to pull myself together for a joint Ari/Julian encore cover JEWET (a jew duet) of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love." Julian prefaced their performance with a snarky "This is a fucking classic and you should be fucking honored that we played it." Honored indeed.