Here Is The Kind Thriller

Alicia Witt is an actress who made her Hollywood debut in the 80s as a young performer in Lynch's Dune. Over the last decade, she has also put her music training to use as a singer/pianist with a full length album and several EPs. On Monday, I was at The Horseshoe to see Witt play in support of her new release: 15,000 Days.

It has been several years since she came to Toronto and whoever booked her for this venue miscalculated. With about 40 people, it would have been a cozier affair at The Rivoli or The Burdock instead of this cavernous bar. Luckily, she had devoted fans including several kickstarters and they cheered warmly throughout her 75 min set and encore. Similar to other pianists such as Billy Joel, Elton John, and Sarah Slean, Witt liked banging out chords and penning verbose lyrics. Although I liked most of her songs, it felt much of the same after a while. So I quite enjoyed when some variety was shown: on the un-released More Mine where the verses were short and punchy, or a couple of songs where Witt brought more jazz-like virtuosity to her playing.

One lucky Kickstarter got his reward of a custom love song. After dancing to it with his partner, he got down on one knee and proposed to her. This generated some tear-wipes for Ms. Witt, who had an unusual stage presence. Throughout the night, she had the most emotive banter I've experienced at a show.