Norah Jones Ditched Lilith Fair to Wow Fans at Tampa's Straz Center

Wednesday August 11, 2010 Norah Jones took the stage at the Straz Center in Downtown Tampa after dropping her Lilith Fair dates and deciding to go it solo. I first found Norah Jones when my aunt sent me a care package filled with new clothes, accessories and her first album, “Come Away with Me.” I instantly fell in love with that voice, her songs, and everything about her. I was confident that seeing her live would be an event to remember.

The stage was filled with instruments in a living room-esque kind of setting with decorative lamps, and a backdrop of white sheets cascading down to set the mood. The opener was Elvis Perkins, his guitar and a harmonica. He had a kind of dry Mason Jennings rumbling with Shooter Jennings sound. With his phrasing and staggered-singing his songs seemed to drone on. He had a good voice but his songs were as dry and flat as his personality revealed in between each tune. He certainly had some potential and he wasn’t terrible, but songs like “Doomsday” and “Stay Zombie, Stay,” aren’t exactly songs I could see myself singing over and over. Regardless, his performance certainly heightened the anticipation for Norah.

Norah and her “Magnificent band,” as Perkins called them, took the stage dressed in style, ready to blow us away. With her short hair, red dress, mini-vest, and sexy heels Norah’s presence on stage was hypnotic. When she sang with that Grammy-winning sultry voice it seemed effortless, like she didn’t even have to try to sound that perfect.

She opened with “What Am I to You,” played with a few beat variations and a slightly different sound from the album, but awesome still, proving her versatility and abilities to rock it live. She played some electric guitar alongside her five band-mates, with the lights flashing purple, pink, blue and green all over, making the stage a very sentimental place. After each song the lights would completely dim leaving only the lamps illuminated. The lighting effects were so interesting and really kept your attention fixed on Norah, the band and the ambiance of the evening.

For Norah, the Straz Center was perfect and personable. A fan a few seats down had mentioned she liked the smaller venues and came alive when she played in them. Norah even commented, “It’s not Lilith Fair but it’s something, we got two chicks on stage, so…”

The band was indeed magnificent, charismatic and seemed to have a great time together on stage, connecting with one another with each and every beat. They played songs from Norah’s entire catalog. “Light as a Feather,” “It’s Gonna Be” and “Chasing Pirates,” were from her latest, “The Fall,” which is definitely a progression from her previous album, “Not Too Late.”

She then took us back to some of her earlier songs like “Broken,” during which she got one line in and stopped dead saying, “I totally forgot the words! I think I have a ‘broken’ brain. I’m sorry, but it’s been awhile since we’ve done this one.” She then asked her band-mate, Sasha, to mouth the lyrics to her the whole song and proceeded to even argue a bit about what line came when.

Norah finally said, “Okay, I’ve got it and if I don’t I’ll fake it and you’ll never know!” The crowd was laughing right along with her, totally amused by the entire exchange. Seeing the real, uninhibited Norah come out to play just made the evening even better.
They covered Johnny Cash, “Cry, Cry, Cry,” and did Mr. Cash proud. She played a personal favorite of my own, “Lonestar,” she rocked the piano for “Back to Manhattan,” and then played “Sinkin’ Soon,” which was incredible live; the bass and drum beats were so vivid and pronounced.

The band left Norah onstage and she looked out to the audience and said, “We’re alone…” It was then she played a song about her dog, “Man of the Hour,” which is probably one of the most lyrically amusing songs she has written. The beauty of Norah Jones, besides her obvious physical adorableness, is that she grows with each album. “Come Away With Me,” was simple, succinct and left a lasting impression on us all. “Feels Like Home,” was a progression in beats, lyrics and the use of her voice, where as “Not Too Late,” had her venturing into a few more bluesy, folksy and classic-sounding numbers which broadened her audience even more. Her latest, “The Fall” is definitely the closest to “Pop” she’s ever gotten but she still has that signature Norah Jones sound complete with songs that stay stuck in the heads of her fans.

“Don’t Know Why,” and the title track of her first album, “Come Away With Me,” finished the evening. The crowd cheered her back onto the stage after an amazing classic microphone was set up. Her band came out with a stand up bass, steel guitar and a banjo, crowded around the mic, like a scene out of “O’ Brother Where Art Though,” to kick it old school and indulge the fans with their encore of “Sunrise” and “Creepin’ In.”

Seeing Norah live was definitely everything I’d expected and then some. From a CD sent in a care-package to a Grammy-winning Goddess onstage in front of me at the Straz Center, Norah had come a long way, earned her keep and continued to play remarkable music, growing and morphing into a greater musician album by album and concert by concert. An event to remember to say the least, Norah Jones was a knock-out hit Wednesday at the Straz Center.