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Tracy
Chapman -- Henry
Wadsworth Theater, Los Angeles, December 13, 1995
There once was a
young girl who played guitar on a street corner and
in small bars in parts of the Boston Area. One day that
girl met her guardian angel and he showed her a path
to fame and artistic freedom. A few days later that
girl had a huge hit record. Soon after she proved her
talent by stealing the show from the world's most powerful
rock icons, in front of hundreds of thousands of people,
with just her guitar at her side. Not long thereafter
she released a second record and slowly began to fade
out of sight. She released one other record during her
time away. The other day she launched a comeback by
releasing a new record and beginning to perform again.
If this particular crowd was any indication, this young
girl was sorely missed.
That 'girl' was
Tracy Chapman, whose 'Fast Car' and 'Revolution' captured
the attention of the world. This small person made a
very loud noise with a breath of fresh air and powerful
songs of conscience and life experience. On Wednesday
night Chapman came out to the screams of the crowd and
proceeded to charm, move, and groove this audience,
which included of all things Bob Sagget of....well you
know those goofy shows...and fans of all ages. Her set
covered primarily new ground from her current release
appropriately titled "A New Beginning". These
new songs are perhaps a little more sophisticated than
before. Lyrically she still speaks of issues pertinent
to her life that we can all relate to. "Tell It
Like It Is" speaks of political suffering for speaking
the truth, while "At This Point In My Life"
is more of an introspective tune about the choices we
all make in life. The tune "I'm Ready," which
she explained was about comments made by relative who
was near death, shows why this woman is such a force.
You have to be made of stone not to be moved by this
song. Musically, Chapman covers broader ground this
time - from the blues to world beats.
In the lobby before
the show there were index cards that anyone could fill
out with any forms of expression they chose. Tracy read
these cards to the audience during a break. The messages
ranged from the poignant to the ridiculous, but were
a nice diversion. She went on to urge everyone to express
themselves in some way, shape or form that suits them
best.
It was exciting
and riveting to hear and see Tracy Chapman again especially
when she performed some of the classic songs from her
rise to stardom. Backed by a group of studio ringers,
the performance was virtually flawless, but somehow
the combination fell flat at times. Unfortunately, it
all seemed a little too calculated. The emotion and
depth of the performance was lacking in spots.
I personally would
have liked to see her comeback with a rag-tag combination
of young upstart musicians that would be panting heavily
awaiting every chance to tear into each and every song.
It just felt to me like these guys were going through
the motions too much. I'll give them the benefit of
the doubt and say that it may be attributed to a short
time together or the fact that Tracy was recovering
from the flu. Maybe that energy translated over to everyone
else. As the show went on she did seem to get stronger
and so did the rest of the players. It is conceivable
that they were feeding off of each other, but even at
it's peak moments there was still something lacking.
It's that unexplainable element of a show that makes
an incredible performance unforgettable. That element
is passion. Tracy Chapman showed that she still has
plenty of it, but I'm not so sure about her band.
In any case the
positive aspects of this show far outweighed the negative.
This one is a don't miss if it comes your way.
Welcome back Tracy....I
hope you stick around a little longer this time.
reviewed by Christopher
Horvath (http://www.mucomo.com/mucomo/guestlist/chapman-live.html)
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