A long wait, but worth every minute of it
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 7, 2009
AIMEE MANNEnmore Theatre, September 4Reviewed by Bernard ZuelAIMEE MANN was wrong; we were right. And everyone is happy about that.The dry-witted Virginian, long resident in irony-deficient Los Angeles, is at least a decade late in getting here, kept away by some aerophobia and a suspicion that there couldn't be that many people here who would have found a way past radio/TV silence to discover her six solo albums.But judging by the surprised delight on her face at the passionate response in the Enmore (and for that matter a night earlier in Brisbane where some people near me were in tears during a simply moving Mr Harris) she's got the message. It seems there is room for sometimes stately pop music marrying Paul McCartney's melodies, Elton John's elegance and Elvis Costello's sharp tongue with a voice that may be limited in range but not in warmth and depth of character.The lean and lanky Mann, whose constant humour and ease confounded some expectations, came bearing no electric guitars or drum kit. Around her acoustic guitar and occasional electric bass (and amusingly, the recorder) were the multiple keyboards and vocals of Jamie Edwards and Jebin Bruni.While occasionally we felt the absence of drums' extra propulsion, there was surprisingly little of the enveloping wash that a keyboard-heavy line-up might suggest. Instead the songs, which touched on all corners of her career back to her mid '80s hit Voices Carry, felt unburdened.The core of the evening €“ and for that matter her career €“ was a deadly double hit of two songs from the Magnolia soundtrack. Wise Up kept landing silent but lethal punches to the heart until something broke. Then Save Me swept up the pieces and posted them home.Aimee Mann is very good. We were always right about that too.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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