Cool And Breezy

Just a few months after an EP release at The Dakota, Tamara Lindeman as The Weather Station was back with her 3rd album Novelty. Thursday night, I was down at The Great Hall for the release show. After Lindeman gave a glowing introduction for Myriam Gendron, this Montrealer sat down on a chair for her first Toronto show. The bulk of her songs came from Not So Deep As A Well, which had her putting music to the poems of Dorothy Parker. The lyrics were surprisingly "pop" ("Catch a lover and find a foe"), though there would be a turn of phrase or word that revealed its literary origins. I especially enjoyed when she used the music of traditional folksong Bushes and Briars with the impish verses of Song of Perfect Propriety. The only negative was that on many songs she used the same guitar picking pattern, giving rise to a similarity that got tedious.

The stage was decorated with jars of flowers done by Lindeman's mom. This was not only perfect for her style of folk-pop but appropriate as one of her songs talked about "white lilacs and wild columbine". People don't come to see The Weather Station for wild music, though one or two songs did get toes tapping. They come for deeply introspective lyrics, delicate guitar and pedal-steel work, and gorgeous harmonies (Felicity Williams, Ivy Mairie, Mischa Bower). Lindeman was joined tonight by Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas), her collaborator on Novelty. Surprisingly, he spent it mostly behind the drum kit and not his guitar.  Lindeman didn't speak much between songs, but she did crack a few jokes: she doesn't bring banjos to gigs anymore because "sound techs would go 'really?' and you don't get another show". The crowd was adoringly respectful; I rarely encounter such quietness in large venues like tonight. But they were loud between songs, enough to get 2 encores from her.