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Eddi Reader's Hands
by Dave Madeloni
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Live at Pearl Street Clubroom-Northampton, MA 5-5-01
It is easy to be swept away by Eddi Reader's voice. The former
frontwoman of Fairground Attraction (who made a splash in
the late Eighties with "Perfect", a #1 single in Europe) possesses
a distinctive and gorgeous instrument that carries listeners on
a hypnotic and emotional journey. She compares favorably with contemporary
Irish songstresses Mary Black and Maura O'Connell.
But on this, the third leg of a mini-tour with Dublin's Hothouse
Flowers, I was mesmerized by Reader's hands.
When her slender fingers weren't cradling and strumming an acoustic
guitar, they were slapping time upon the Glasgowian's hips, or pointing
skyward, punctuating several of the performance's most dramatic
moments. At times, Reader would close her eyes and mime playing
a variety of instruments. Those seeing her frenetically playing
air-guitar, tambourine and drum for the first time, might have been
distracted from her melodic Celtic-inflected ditties and sultry
folk/pop songs. But once the novelty of her gesticulations faded,
they infused her delivery with a riveting theatricality.
The smallish clubroom crowd barely noticed the sheepish Mother of
two amble onstage, accompanied by Belfast's rising folk-guitar star
Colin Reid. Reader searched out a stool and declared, almost apologetically
in her Scottish brogue, "I'm gonna sing a few songs for you, hope
you don't mind."
The mildly disinterested but polite gathering began to be pulled
into Reader's spell when, a couple of songs in, the barefoot Reader
upped the intensity for the stirring "Kiteflyers Hill" (from 1999's
Angels and Electricity), a request from one of the
smattering of Reader aficionados. Reader dropped the guitar, pushed
back the stool, and announced [this song] "is about waiting, day
after day after day for someone who ruined your life. If he shows
up tell him to fuck-off!" then rendered an exhilarating version.
About halfway through, her right hand began to flitter side-to-side
in an irregular cadence as she sang "where are you now/my wild summer
love/do you think of me sometimes /do you ever make that climb/up
Kiteflyer's Hill". I was perplexed; which instrument was she pretending
to play this time? I eventually realized she was mimicking the fluttering
of a kite tail. Watching Reader, her eyes closed throughout, become
completely immersed in the song, it was obvious that the gesture
was pure and uncontrived.
Reader lightened the mood by joking with the audience between songs;
playfully mocking Americans' mispronunciation of Glasgow ("its 'Glazzgo'
not 'Glass-gow!") and celebrating her vacation from her kids ("my
sister's got them for two weeks, Yeeaahh!"). Her songs, however,
were generally somber and wistful.
Reader introduced a couple of tunes from her brand new cd Simple
Soul ; a delicate and spare "Footsteps Fall" (co-written
with long-time collaborator Boo Hewerdine) and "Wolves", which featured
some wolf-like baying by Reader and the warm and sympathetic accompaniment
of Colin Reid's acoustic six-string.
The set ended with an accappella "Clare", from her Fairground Attraction's
days. Reader's arms flailed as she sang "And over the rooftops/when
the stars prickle the sky/London is sleeping and a Mississippi moon
shines/I hear them making love, I hear them making love". By then,
everyone in the place was staring at those hands.
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_________________________________
For
more information on Eddi Reader, visit:
http://www.eddireader.com |
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_________________________________
Dave Madeloni is an Alternative Learning Teacher at a public High
School. He argues with his students incessantly about the merits
of Eminem and Limp Bizkit.
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