Suzanne Vega Queen's Hall Edinburgh 19th February 2023 Review
"An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories with Suzanne Vega" at The Queen's Hall Edinburgh tonight was exactly what the name of this current USA/UK/EU tour suggests and I think it fair to say that Suzanne Vega captivated everyone who was there with her words, music and songs.
Since the release of her self-titled album “Suzanne Vega” in 1985, Suzanne’s gift for capturing a fleeting moment in time has woven stories of wonder, heartaches, loves won, loves lost, ever since and, along the way, tackled many difficult subjects which lesser songwriters would have stayed well away from. With Suzanne Vega, every song is, to me, a bit like holding a snow globe in your hands as inside there is this beautifully crafted moment in time that, as its story unfolds, seems to have within its own world full of sounds and colours. Sometimes they are bright, sometimes they are far darker. Strangely, like a snow globe, if you shake it, the snow, in this case Suzanne’s words, always lands a little differently and the picture inside very subtly shifts a little in perspective.
If you are reading this review and planning to go to any of the dates left on this tour, take a note that this time Suzanne Vega is putting many of her best known songs out early in the show and tonight’s set opened with “Marlene on The Wall”, swiftly followed by “Small Blue Thing”.
I have no intention of giving Suzanne Vega’s set list away here as that is for people going to the shows to find out, but the big songs that many people would expect to hear are here. Of course, if you have a back catalogue of music as extensive as Suzanne’s there is always going to be that chance that your favourite album only song might not have made it into this set list.
Suzanne Vega was herself in a very friendly and upbeat mood this evening, happily chatting away and sharing a joke or two with the audience and if one story will never go away (because we it seems do not want it to), it is the story of that seven week time of wonder and exploration in a young 18 year old girl’s life and the man behind the story in “Gypsy”. Stories never really end though, at least not in your heart, and 15 years later those questions of “what happened to” and “what if” surface and “In Liverpool” is written. Are there more threads in this story to be told? The answer to that question is YES, but that is Suzanne Vega’s story to tell, not mine.
For me, it is always Suzanne Vega’s ability to weave a story and emotions out of words that make her stand out as one of the great songwriters of her time, but that ability can too easily mask just how good a musician is at work here too, and this evening’s songs so often had a very deceptively skilful finger-style guitar playing technique to them. Adding so much to the sound of Suzanne’s music all evening was Irish guitarist Gerry Leonard who perfectly suited the often stripped back sound of this show. Together, Suzanne Vega and Gerry Leonard make a very good on stage team, and sometimes it “just takes two” to do everything just right.
Opening this show tonight was singer, songwriter and collector of traditional music Sam Lee with a collection of songs from England, Scotland and Ireland tonight. Some people would say that it takes a brave man to open his set list in Scotland with a song called “Awake, Awake, Sweet England”, but Sam Lee has such a warm and rich voice and a love for not only these songs, but the land from which they all came, that he got away with this one.
Wherever they may come from, Sam Lee treasures these old songs, he treasures their history, but perhaps even more importantly he treasures the people who have kept them alive, often down the centuries by handing them onto the next singer/storyteller. For some of these songs, Sam Lee is now their caretaker for this moment.
Sam Lee is, as well as a singer/songwriter, a writer of books and his current “Singing With Nightingales” explores why this bird in particular is the source of so many songs over many centuries.
As always with opening acts there is only time to get a taste of their music and Sam Lee and his exploration of these songs and their history, plus his own music are paths that I will have to travel at a later date. Tonight, however, his stories in song of times past were the perfect balance to Suzanne Vega and her contemporary stories. Binding old and new together, songs magical in both words and music.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Since the release of her self-titled album “Suzanne Vega” in 1985, Suzanne’s gift for capturing a fleeting moment in time has woven stories of wonder, heartaches, loves won, loves lost, ever since and, along the way, tackled many difficult subjects which lesser songwriters would have stayed well away from. With Suzanne Vega, every song is, to me, a bit like holding a snow globe in your hands as inside there is this beautifully crafted moment in time that, as its story unfolds, seems to have within its own world full of sounds and colours. Sometimes they are bright, sometimes they are far darker. Strangely, like a snow globe, if you shake it, the snow, in this case Suzanne’s words, always lands a little differently and the picture inside very subtly shifts a little in perspective.
If you are reading this review and planning to go to any of the dates left on this tour, take a note that this time Suzanne Vega is putting many of her best known songs out early in the show and tonight’s set opened with “Marlene on The Wall”, swiftly followed by “Small Blue Thing”.
I have no intention of giving Suzanne Vega’s set list away here as that is for people going to the shows to find out, but the big songs that many people would expect to hear are here. Of course, if you have a back catalogue of music as extensive as Suzanne’s there is always going to be that chance that your favourite album only song might not have made it into this set list.
Suzanne Vega was herself in a very friendly and upbeat mood this evening, happily chatting away and sharing a joke or two with the audience and if one story will never go away (because we it seems do not want it to), it is the story of that seven week time of wonder and exploration in a young 18 year old girl’s life and the man behind the story in “Gypsy”. Stories never really end though, at least not in your heart, and 15 years later those questions of “what happened to” and “what if” surface and “In Liverpool” is written. Are there more threads in this story to be told? The answer to that question is YES, but that is Suzanne Vega’s story to tell, not mine.
For me, it is always Suzanne Vega’s ability to weave a story and emotions out of words that make her stand out as one of the great songwriters of her time, but that ability can too easily mask just how good a musician is at work here too, and this evening’s songs so often had a very deceptively skilful finger-style guitar playing technique to them. Adding so much to the sound of Suzanne’s music all evening was Irish guitarist Gerry Leonard who perfectly suited the often stripped back sound of this show. Together, Suzanne Vega and Gerry Leonard make a very good on stage team, and sometimes it “just takes two” to do everything just right.
Opening this show tonight was singer, songwriter and collector of traditional music Sam Lee with a collection of songs from England, Scotland and Ireland tonight. Some people would say that it takes a brave man to open his set list in Scotland with a song called “Awake, Awake, Sweet England”, but Sam Lee has such a warm and rich voice and a love for not only these songs, but the land from which they all came, that he got away with this one.
Wherever they may come from, Sam Lee treasures these old songs, he treasures their history, but perhaps even more importantly he treasures the people who have kept them alive, often down the centuries by handing them onto the next singer/storyteller. For some of these songs, Sam Lee is now their caretaker for this moment.
Sam Lee is, as well as a singer/songwriter, a writer of books and his current “Singing With Nightingales” explores why this bird in particular is the source of so many songs over many centuries.
As always with opening acts there is only time to get a taste of their music and Sam Lee and his exploration of these songs and their history, plus his own music are paths that I will have to travel at a later date. Tonight, however, his stories in song of times past were the perfect balance to Suzanne Vega and her contemporary stories. Binding old and new together, songs magical in both words and music.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com