Regina Spektor: Live Last Night

By Chris Klimek

Regina Spektor is a wellspring of quirk, and her Dadaesque lyrics offer metaphorical cover without limit. But the songstress's stripped-down show at Constitution Hall Wednesday night gave her no place to hide.

(Read the rest of the review after the jump.)

She'd spent the 95-minute gig's first half warbling from an unadorned stage, modestly accompanied by a two-man string section and a drummer on much of "Far," her latest collection of confessionals and impish piano ballads. At the album's nadir, she sounds like a dolphin, apparently on purpose. But in concert, her breathy, stretchy voice and dexterous playing sure sold new songs like "Folding Chair" and especially circa-2004 oldies like the sublime "Us," their spell frequently punctuated by shrieks of "I love you, Regina!"

Such cultish adulation is inevitable: Spektor is 29, but she has a blushing demeanor and childlike speaking voice that seem to stir a protective impulse in anyone inclined find those lyrics lousy with profundity, rather than plain lousy.

Either way, she's a smart performer who knows when a little off-showing is warranted. For "Poor Little Rich Boy," she played percussion with her right hand; piano with her left. Equally enchanting was the a cappella take of a song called "Silly Eye-Color Generalizations." And those interrupting voices from the void, whether roaring or shrieking, didn't rattle her one bit.

By David Malitz |  October 1, 2009; 1:55 PM ET Live Last Night
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