Tonight, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy took the stage at the Blender Theater in Gramercy Park, NYC. Having seen Ms. Sudol before on her "One Cell" tour, the anticipation of her new album "Bomb in a Birdcage" and her appearance have been boiling up until this moment. The first thing you notice about Ms. Sudol is her hair. No, I don't mean when she is on stage. As she waits in the wings to come on, you catch a glimpse of her beautiful red hair and you smile, knowing the wait is over and that maybe, you were the only one to have that quick glimpse.
Ms. Sudol appeared on the stage, starting the night off with her new album's first song "What I Wouldn't Do." In a bit of a country style, the song is a perfect opening and crowd pleaser. Sudo, entranced,l had the right amount of fun with it.
One of the great things about A Fine Frenzy, is the way the set list is arranged. They take us from one song to the next, only stopping for Ms. Sudol's sultry, adorable and sincere "Thank you." There are people who have seen such legends as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, just to name a few, that I am certain would agree with the comparison that Ms. Sudol is one of those performers, you simply cannot take your eyes off of. Putting physical beauty aside, her rhythm, emotion, sincerity, and out right love for everyone in the audience takes us into a place of peace. A place outside the economic downturn, away from the careers we struggle to keep and instead show us the sunlight that lies deep down inside of us; that we are all good people with beautiful souls who hurt, but find the strength to move on. Ms. Sudol shows us where to look for beauty, whether in "The Minnow and the Trout", a beautiful ballad which on the surface is about nature but underneath is about the human capacity to accept differences and unite.
Sudol also has a wonderful sense of humor Whether it be from the moments she takes to remove the hair from her mouth or her pleasant technique of weaving stories in between songs, her personality is on full display. Being in New York, she shyly and coyly commented on her image and used "fuck" in a sentence, sighting "It's New York." She commented on how quiet the crowd was for a New York show and she was right. You could hear a pin drop in between her songs, the audience matching Ms. Sudol's old fashioned manners of politeness, courtesy and respect. She took a moment to explain to us about the High School Musical cup she was drinking from, commenting on characters and pop culture. In a final bit of comedy from the end of the show, Sudol, after a powerful number, had mangled the microphone. Upon noticing this, she acknowledged the event by stating "That's part of rock and roll, I guess."
The set was beautifully blended with ballads and rock songs. One of the first ballads of the evening, "Last of Days". amounted to becoming more powerful than even the lyrics allow because of Sudol's body language and clear personal regard for the song. The same was true in a slower version of her hit single "Almost Lover." The power of Sudol's smile, the clutching of her right arm upon lyrics that she has no doubt lived through and the way her body moves to the music (sometimes as if moving on its own in accordance with her emotions) can only solidify what a rare gift Alison Sudol, at only twenty four years old, possesses.
On her last tour, she covered "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Deathcab for Cutie and "Across The Universe" by The Beatles. "Dark", a beautiful haunting soft ballad and "Universe", a song spanning generations were infact so enchanting to see, it could almost take us away from the fact that they were covers, but rather newly interpreted versions of already perfected songs. This evening, Ms. Sudol chose Blondie's "Heart of Glass" to cover, which became one of the most powerful moments of the night. Blondie fan or no Blondie fan, Beatles fan or no Beatles fan, originality is present in every song, note and even gesture Sudol allows us to witness.
Upon her final return to the stage, Sudol closed the night with "I'll Follow The Sun" by The Beatles. A perfected soprano rendition of this song ended the night in an inevitable way: leaving us hoping the concert would not end, but moreso instilling our anticipation of what she will put on the shelves in the next few years. Before finally leaving the stage, she took time to thank the audience for purchasing tickets in this economy, for being at the theater, for buying her albums and most of all for supporting music that's a little different.
Watching her stride off the stage after taking her final solo bow, you can't help but wonder if this is what it was like to see one of the greats early on in their career. Someone who's talent cannot be denied, someone we can count on to take us out of the day to day moments of stress and above all, someone who is grateful and appreciative for her talent and being able to do what she loves most.
Poetic, original and unforgettable. Ringo Starr was once quoted in an interview saying "I'd like to end up...sort of...unforgettable." Those who do what they love, stand up passionately for what they believe and then find the means to share that with the world, these are heroic, unforgettable people. Alison Sudol is unforgettable.
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