Could we talk about Tracy Chapman for a second? I just saw her in concert last night, right up front. A respectful audience, nice seats, the works. The woman walks out, simply dressed in a black shirt and jeans (she's much tinier than I had thought!) and just...oh God....just took over the whole room. Hundreds of people...silenced by this little dreaded woman and her guitar. I still get chills. She's singing this song off of her new album ("In the Dark"), and it's a very haunting, chilling song, and I just start crying. My Mom used to cry when the choir sang in church on Christmas, and I never understood why. She would say, "It's just so beautiful." Last night was the first time one little voice moved this big girl to tears.
Tracy's singing is clear and strong, and it carries up to the last person in the last row of the concert hall. When she began singing a cappella "Last night I heard the screaming..." I didn't dare breathe for fear of missing a moment of the song.
Everybody was moved. I have never seen the French take to a performance so well. Even by the end, once the serious, solemn songs were over and the fun began, they were dancing and clapping and stomping their feet. It was like they were finally released from whatever cocoon they have been stuck in for the last three hundred years.
What I appreciated about Tracy was her simplicity. She spoke - telling little stories before singing a song or two - talking to a fairly large sold-out audience as if she was speaking to each person individually. She never played up the fact that she is a multi-platinum, grammy-winning star. She giggled sheepishly from time to time, showed her nervousness at others, and jokingly made fun of her band members throughout.
At the closing, for her second encore, she said, "This is a song by one of my favorite songwriters. It's a song about standing up for what you believe in. It seems appropriate given the present climate; France seems to know something about standing up for what it believes in. This is for anybody that believes in peace."
It was a groovy version of Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up."
What a beautiful human being, and a beautiful evening.
I just love Tracy Chapman! she's awesome and incredibly soulful. It has been years since I've seen her in concert but she moved me with one of her songs at the time too...
Hi,
I read your review of the Tracy Chapman concert (i was there too but attended lots of others), could it be possible to publish ur personal review on my website ? I'm trying to build a Let It Rain tour Archive with anything i can find on each concerts (press review, photos, setlists, fan reviews...) http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/concerts_letitrain_tour_archive_setlists.htm I would credit you and your website of course, let me know... and carry one, your site is really great !
Aurelie (from Paris)
Aurelie- Mais bien sur!
I looked for an email address so that I could respond to you in a better way, but I couldn't find one.
Go ahead and take it...you've got a great thing going on over there on your site. Actually, I had already been to your site on several occasions - how funny is that?
Keep it up and let me know when you post it.
Hi Lee,
Sorry for the delay, i came back to see your website today and realized that i hadn't left my email.
Many thanx for letting me publish your review (http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/concerts_letitrain_tour_archive_paris2.htm) I attended both Paris shows and i remember having seen lots of journalists, and i haven't found any review yet so your review i highly welcomed to complete the site :) So you knew my website ? the world is small ;)
Have a nice rest from your London trip,
Aurelie