#ny pops

So, I’ll start this with the huge caveat that I love Jessie Mueller (in case that wasn’t evident from my blog haha) and basically think she can do no wrong, so anything I say will be biased in that regard.

The concert was structured in 2 acts, with each performer singing 2 songs during each act and all 4 of them coming together to sing a song together at the end of each act.  

Act I started with Christopher Jackson singing Let’s Stay Together (Al Green) and I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (Al Kooper).  He was very personable and made a bit of small talk between his two songs, joking that when they asked him what he wanted to sing at Carnegie Hall he had to pick this.  Later, he came and closed out the solo performances with The Times They Are a-Changin’ (Bob Dylan) and A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke).  They felt like very relevant songs for our current political and social climate.  His voice was very similar to how he sounded in Hamilton.  I think he has a really nice voice, so I could listen to him sing all day, and I especially loved I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know.  It was soft and croony, but I think he had some timing or lyric issues.  I really enjoyed the songs, but I thought some of the songs that he chose could have used a more honeyed voice, even though he did a really good job.  Anyway, I always enjoy hearing him sing so it was a treat.

Next, JESSIE came out and sang Jolene (I cried) and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (I sobbed).  She came out barefoot for Jolene, which I just love so much.  She introduced Yellow Brick Road by saying that it was arranged by someone who had become very dear to her at this point in her life (Sara Bareilles), and launched into it.  She talked far less than Christopher Jackson did, but I thought her performances were incredible.  I wonder if she was fighting a cold or something because she sounded a tiny bit off and her songs were lower than she could sing (like she could hit the high notes in Jolene if she wanted to).  Regardless, her performance was incredible and hearing her sing these songs was not something I knew I needed in my life until it happened.  She then opened Act II by singing Beautiful and Both Sides Now.  Obviously, I was excited to hear her sing Beautiful since I haven’t heard her sing it live since her Beautiful days, and she didn’t disappoint.  Her vocals were incredible and she was moving up on stage like she was very happy to be singing it.  I had been waiting the whole night to hear her sing Both Sides Now so holy shit!  That’s one of my favorite songs, and to hear it performed by one of my favorite singers was nothing short of perfection.  She took it a little slower than I’ve heard in the past, but she imbued it with so much emotion that I cried after the first few lines.  (I’m a sucker for Jessie + emotional songs, don’t judge!)  I will say that overall she seemed a tad uncomfortable on the stage, but I think she’s always slightly awkward when she performs so I don’t know what it was.  Maybe part of it was that she closed her eyes a lot?  But anyway, she was incredible, obviously the highlight of the show for me, and on a purely superficial note I liked her Act I dress (strapless) better than her Act II one (halter).

Will Chase followed Jessie and sang Ring of Fire (June Carter) and Bridge Over Troubled Water (Paul Simon), which he introduced as being for his children, one of whom was in the audience.  Honestly, Bridge Over Troubled Water was my favorite song of his that he sang because it was very well technically executed and you could tell it meant a lot to him.  He was a very strong voice, so it was interesting to hear him sing a gentler song.  He sang 3rd in Act II and sang Fortunate Son (John Fogerty) and Imagine (John Lennon), Imagine being because he played John Lennon in the musical.  Imagine was also really well sung, and a favorite song of mine, so I thoroughly enjoyed it...but again, I thought it could have used a softer voice.

Finally, Adrienne Warren closed out the solo performances for Act I by singing If I Ain’t Got You (Alicia Keys) and Fire and Rain (James Taylor).  I thought her voice really worked for I Ain’t Got You, and the audience had fun with the more contemporary song.  She also talked up the crowd and mentioned how her dad was sitting out there and how Fire and Rain was what she was first taught to sing by him so she was singing this for him now (if I remember correctly).  Anyway, her voice is amazing and she really slayed her songs in Act II, Hello (Adele) and Think (Aretha Franklin).  I thought her Hello was a little slow for my taste but she sang it excellently and hit all the big notes very impressively.  Now I’m sad I missed her in Shuffle Along!