Madelaine Peyroux
by Manaboutown on 2009-07-16The Danforth Music Hall Theatre - TorontoI love Madelaine Peyroux's voice and the choice of material on her albums but seeing her live is another story. The venue was fine...the Danforth Music Hall....the same place where Rufus Wainwright brought the house down last year. But Madelaine did not put nearly as much effort or thought into her performance. The opening act was bland and disappointing and we couldn't wait till he got off the stage.. submediocrity with delusions of mediocrity. Then she finally comes on with some good musicians but the sound is bad....note to Madelaine....get another sound guy. And we know you started as a busker singing for money on street corners but baby...you've come a long way...at least in the studio....so let's get beyond the street corner mentality and put some pizazz into the performance....and you don't win anyone over or please them by playing a bunch of new songs that you just wrote....one after another....no....you start with a couple of 'favorites' and 'audience pleasers' and then throw in a new song every now and then. You think about your fans...you should want to please them...not yourself. It's totally counter productive to try and ram new material down at an audience...they came to hear their favorites....they paid to hear their favorites....so don't try and sell them on the new stuff then needs to be digested slowly....like your previous material. And let's try for a bit of atmosphere...maybe some nice visuals in the back or some neat lighting for those classic old style tunes....let's put a bit of thought and effort into this Madelaine....please!