By Lindsey Manos
There was something in the air as the crowd trickled into the State Theatre for the Regina Spektor concert. An Infectious energy that I can’t quite place my finger on. After a cheerful usher helped me to my seat, I sat down and took in my surroundings. A giddy couple to my left was making setlist predictions. A man in the aisle had an exchange made up mainly of hand-gestures with a friend up in the balcony. Even without listening to any specific conversation I could feel that they were all untroubled, warm, and full of excitement. Beyond the audience, the stage was illuminated by a set of simple blue lights, highlighting the mighty black piano in the center. Anyone with any knowledge of Spektor’s discography knew that instrument was about to come alive. The microphone positioned above it shone like a pocket disco ball, surrounded by the haze from the fog machines.
The crowd erupted into applause as a man came on stage to make some pre-show announcements, hungry for any sign that the show was about to begin. Many audience members had been long-anticipating this event, as it had been rescheduled from months prior due to sickness on the part of the artist. He asked how many people had come from outside Tompkins County for the show and to my surprise about half the theater raised their hand. Then again, Spektor’s unique stage presence and offbeat persona would have been enough for me to drive several towns over as well, even on a Wednesday night.
Finally, Regina Spektor walked out on stage. For this night’s performance, she had donned a long, flowy, black dress, puffy in the shoulders, along with bright white socks and sneakers. Her auburn hair bounced around her face and her lips stood out, a bright red. On her way to the microphone, she stumbled slightly. “You all came for my grace, right?” she joked with the crowd. This was met with an uproarious burst of clapping and cheers. Her lovable demeanor and melodic voice had already won over the venue. Voices from throughout the room shouted out praise and encouragement. Spektor blushed and smiled.
Her first song was “Ain’t No Cover,” sung acapella. Joy swept over the crowd as we were serenaded by her luscious vocals. Halfway through the melody she began to tap the mic as she sang, in order to add some percussion. This introduction served as insight into the creativity Spektor brings to her craft. Then, she made her way to the piano. Before beginning the next piece, she confessed in a lighthearted manner that this scenario felt exactly like “every
performer’s nightmare”. She was alone on stage with a single bright spotlight shining down on her. She knew a room full of people was watching her but she couldn’t see them in the dark. She was nervous she would mess up or forget a song. Her honesty and vulnerability only made her more endearing.
She broke out into “Folding Chair,” a perky piano beat, with her signature smooth, light vocals on top. Her voice carried levity as she flawlessly switched back and forth between (with) her falsetto, even working in the mimicry of a dolphin while remaining faithful to the graceful melody. This was followed by a string of songs off of her newest album, Home, Before and After. This included my personal favorite, “Becoming All Alone,” a stunning ballad that both gets real about loneliness and jokes about drinking with God. She didn’t quite finish this one due to forgetting the ending but she was quickly forgiven. As Spektor cut off the song during the bridge, the audience immediately began clapping, taking any moment of silence as a chance to pay tribute to her. The crowd was also blessed with “Loveology,” a favorite off the new album that demonstrates her captivating lyrics and love for creating her own vocabulary.
In between songs she provided the audience with more insight into her performance quirks and favorite practices. She mentioned how she always closes her eyes while she performs; this is despite being directly asked not to. Spektor let the audience know that if we wanted to play a prank on her we could all file out during a longer song and she would never know until the end, when she finally opened her eyes. As she moved away from the piano and sat down at her keyboard to perform “Poor Little Rich Boy,” she also picked up a drumstick and used the wooden chair next to her as a snare, advising us all to start using a chair as a drum every once in a while. “Forget skincare routines,” she quipped, all one needs is a good wooden chair to hit. She then dove into an incredible performance, perfectly balancing the dynamics of her vocals, the chords with her left hand, and the chair drum with her right. There were some other highlights from the night, including “Baby Jesus,” a fascinating take on religion with tempo that bounced back and forth between so slow that you were dying for the next note and so fast that you were guaranteed to be given a little anxiety. Another was “Spacetime Fairytale,” a song whose title truly captures what it holds. It was an eight minute track that had whimsy, a captivating piano part, and ultimately came to a climax as Spektor repeated the words, “you will learn,” while the intensity of the instrumental rose and her voice became distorted. Toward the end of the song, the lights behind her faded from pink to a dark red and suddenly the kindhearted woman on stage had perfectly captured the spirit of pure evil. This faded back into a lovely piano melody to finish up the song. It was certainly a spectacle to witness.
Spektor’s penultimate song was “Fidelity,” to which she invited the crowd to sing along. Prior to this moment the crowd had remained seated and silent while she performed. Not out of boredom or lack of desire, but because Regina Spektor had single handedly captivated the room to the point where all anyone could do was listen in awe. However, at her invitation, we all quietly joined along for this track. It was a beautiful moment of connection. Spektor briefly left and then returned for her encore of “Samson,” another old favorite. It was the perfect ending to the night. As I walked out of Ithaca State Theater after the show, I was left feeling pure bliss. I had gone in with high hopes, but I never could have imagined the extent to which her charms would grab hold of me. If ever given the chance, I highly recommend seeing her live.
