Each of the two-thousand fans sandwiched into Philadelphia’s Electric Factory are smitten by Regina Spektor’s charm. And who can blame them? The Russian songstress has such a bizarre presence on the stage; one second, she’s giving Tchaikovsky a run for his money, and the next, she’s whacking a chair with a drumstick. Such a wide range of dripping talent has certainly not gotten to the head of the 29-year-old, who seemed unbelievably flattered and, at some points, utterly surprised at the number of voices singing along or the amount of applause received after her songs. Whether she believes it or not, each handclap is entirely deserved. Spektor’s obvious command of the piano, her flawless voice and her quirky and creative lyrics make for quite the show.
Opening with tracks from her new album, “Far”, it was immediately evident that this show would be different from past Spektor shows. Regina was not alone on stage, and was musically supported by a drummer, a cellist and a violin. The show belonged to Spektor, though, and the band was simply an added bonus. Within the first fifteen minutes, Spektor sang about a macaroni computer (The Calculation), barked like a dolphin (Folding Chair), and sang as a heartbroken divorcee who sees her ex involved with another woman while watching from his mouth (Ode to Divorce). Obviously, any worries that Regina’s newfound commercial success would ruin her appeal were immediately tossed out of the window. It was clear that Regina was in top form, and she had the crowd eating out of her hands and singing along at the top of their lungs.
As is the case with all of Spektor’s concerts, the show is driven by her subtle yet undeniably infectious personality. Interestingly enough, some of the most crowd pleasers were ones played away from the Steinway. Bobbing for Apple”, one of Spektor’s signature performance tunes, and That Time were played from her guitar. When Spektor messed up the lyrics during one of the numbers, she said “you all just witnessed the biggest fuckup of the American tour so far. Congratulations!”, which was met with thunderous applause.
Despite the intensity of her guitar numbers, and the enjoyment of her songs with the band, Spektor is at the top of her game when it’s just her and the keys. The crowd responded positively to On The Radio, clapping and singing along to every word. Deep in her set, Spektor peaked during her performance of Apres Moi, a haunting piano number that features a stanza in Russian from a Boris Pasternak poem. Spektor showcased a new song, Carefully Laid Plans, much to the delight of the crowd. After closing her set with Man of A Thousand Faces, Spektor returned to perform a star-studded, greatest-hits encore, featuring Samson, radio hit Fidelity, a riveting performance of Us, complete with the violin and cello), Hotel Song, which featured a beatboxer, and a self-penned, self-proclaimed “country song” called Love You’re A Whore.
During the closing number, Spektor sang “'Cuz they've been there before/And they've come back again/And they always go right back for more”, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. We’ll all be back for more.
- Jeff Waters (his blog is here)
Here's a video of her performing "Us":
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