My first time at the NSC, and probably a suitable gig for it. Opening act Horse Stories, comprised of a guy on guitar (and occasionally harmonica) and a girl on keys, but really mostly the guy, peddled a folksy, slightly post-rock (in a Dirty Three kinda way) tinged brand of acoustic guitar pop - it was okay but, for mine, nothing special. Then Kathleen Edwards, who we were all there to see ('we' in this case being the least hip non-classical music crowd that I can remember having been a part of, as well as, relatedly, the oldest - which is pretty much what I'd expected for a rootsy, not especially 'indie' but not especially well-known either artist like Edwards, and another sign that my slide into graceful age continues apace). I was a bit disappointed that she hadn't brought a full band - one of the best things about her records is the warm, chiming electric guitar work and full-bodied alt-country/rock-pop hybrid that she creates - and instead played with just her (on acoustic guitar) and guitarist (and husband) Colin Cripps, but I shouldn't complain because the stripped down sound, while not what I was hoping for, worked well in its own way.
Live, Edwards is a very natural singer and performer, concerned more with feeling and meaning than with technical perfection. Her voice comes through well - it's strong and characterful, and maybe somewhat dustier than on record - and the understanding between her and Cripps was evident in the interplay of their guitars, particularly with the rockier numbers. Set opened with "Pink Emerson Radio" and closed with "Back To Me"; last number in three-song encore was a mellow "Copied Keys" (a crowd request but possibly they'd have played it anyway). In between was a setlist split reasonably evenly between Failer and Back To Me, with a slight slant towards that latter record (which I prefer at any rate), and also taking in a new song (v.g.), an old one that's never made it on to record (on which she cheerfully played up to Canadian stereotypes, ending with a resounding 'eh', leading to some post-song crowd interaction), a Gram cover (didn't recognise the song, but it worked really well, the inversion of vocals with Edwards taking the lead Gram part and Cripps doing what would presumably have been Emmylou's harmonies working a treat and the wistful twang coming through nicely), and a take on AC/DC's "Money Talks".
It really was a rather different experience listening to these songs performed by just Edwards and Cripps, and primarily driven by acoustic guitar. Most transferred pretty well, but I found myself missing the electric when it would ordinarily have come in; setlist favourites (of mine) were probably the Gram song, "Hockey Skates" and "Six O'Clock News" (maybe my favourites on record - "In State", "Old Time Sake", "Summerlong", "Copied Keys" (all of which she played) - are more reliant on the additional instrumentation for their goodness...though I still enjoyed seeing them done live, of course!).
On stage, Edwards came across as unassuming, unaffected and personable, telling a few stories, making some jokes about it being Valentine's Day (a quirk of scheduling which had led Wei and I to delay buying our tickets until close to the last minute, on the principle that it'd be severely bad mojo on the romantic front to commit ourselves to the gig too soon in advance), engaging in some banter with the crowd, and seeming to be genuinely pleased to be there in front of as many people as had come out for the show.
So all in all, while not quite what I'd expected or hoped for, a good show.
