With a suit, some swagger, and a voice nothing short of sublime, k.d. lang evoked memories of Camelot with her recent performance at California'a Malibu Performing Arts Center. Like seeing Old Blue Eyes at the Sands, lang’s performance was an intimate, sophisticated affair punctuated by a wholly idiosyncratic talent.
The Sunday night performance was the latest in the KCRW Sessions series -- benefit concerts for the beloved Southern California radio station that broadcasts a mix of talk shows, indie music, and National Public Radio news. Tickets ran over a hundred bucks, and even if the profits weren’t headed for a good cause (keeping KCRW and NPR alive in greater Los Angeles), it was money well spent.
Steps from the lapping waves of the Pacific, the Malibu Performing Arts Center is a modest 500-seat venue that’s made for a quiet performer like lang. The lighting is gentle, the chairs plush, the sound crisp, and the stage views unobstructed. Balancing wine glasses above heels and leather loafers, audience members leisurely made their way to the seats before the prompt 7:30 start time. After a brief introduction by KCRW DJ Chris Douridas, lang and her five-piece band strode onto a stage decorated with a beige couch festooned with throw pillows.
Lang was a stylish vision in pinstriped gray pants, matching vest, and a checkered shirt with a chocolate-colored knot tied around the collar. She dove into “Upstream,” a softly devastating number from this year’s Watershed, her latest album. Neil Young’s “Helpless” was next -- a song lang covered on her Canadian-themed Hymns of the 49th Parallel album. The uncomplicated chorus -- “Helpless, helpless, helpless” -- poured out of her mouth like honey. The audience was in a trance by the time lang was finished with “Thread,” which she helped along with delicate, choreographed hand motions. Lang then rolled out “Western Stars,” a 1988 cowgirl lament written by Chris Isaak.
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