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Feist - Live Review - Indianapolis

Murat Egyptian Room - Indianapolis, IN - 4/30/2012

Monday April 30, Leslie Feist and her band brought an experience to The Old National Center Murat Egyptian Room that was a much-needed breath of fresh air to Indianapolis.  Feist began their 2012 tour at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California bringing with them Indie artists such as Bon Iver and Timber Timbre.  On this tour, Feist has also brought with her the members of the Vermont folk group Mountain Man. Serving as her backup harmony Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath, bring another level of intrigue to Feist’s tribal ensemble. The atmosphere is more of a late night rendezvous at a beach fire than a concert in the middle of the city.    

  Despite the fact that Indianapolis happens to be landlocked, Feist manages to transport the audience to a magnificent misty coastal mountain forest reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest.  As Feist began an almost tribal melody as their new song “Graveyard” began with a trance like drum line.  “Graveyard” gives you the impression of a fearful, brooding feeling when you hear Feist echoed by the perfect harmonies from the three sirens from Vermont. The eclectic, penetrating sounds ride the cusp of unnerving and inviting as the lyrics “Bring ‘em all back to life” lift you back from the abyssal gloom. The crowd sways like oceanic breathing as “So Sorry” acts as a catalyst to the sea swell and engulfs the crowd.  Leslie Feists’ voice chills the spine as “Anti-Pioneer” serves as a reminder of nothing remains the same as the lyrics “when the flag changes colours, the language knows, when the month changes numbers, it’s time to go” washes over you.    

  The crowd is suddenly shocked into a highly conscious state by a deafening drum beat.  Soon the drum rhythm of “Moon My Man” immersed the crowd into a harmonious handclap that barreled out of the Egyptian Room and down the street. Feelings of mystic bewilderment return as quickly as they left as the band transitioned into one of the album’s powerhouse tracks “Bittersweet Melodies.”   Every person in the house was lost in depths of memories as the song and stage together brought about emotions of grief, happiness, madness and gratitude all together at once.  The tour experience and sound engineering executes a flawless call and response from Feist and the audience.   
  Although the tour may have begun at a mammoth music festival, only a small venue can offer something intimate and altruistic between artists and fan, fortunately for the Indianapolis crowd, the Egyptian Room offers such an environment.   Leslie asks fans in the crowd, what they want to play on stage! She chooses a young woman from the front row named Tessa. The band joins the crowd and Tessa sings a beautiful song in French.  After Tessa set the bar extremely high, Leslie selects a brother and sister duo from the crowd. However, before they can start their song, an unidentified fan steals the stage and begins to play the piano.  Despite the mystery man at the piano, the brother and sister (Katie and Kevin) just assimilate him and perform with him on the keys.  Feist gives their fans an experience that is extremely rare and extremely selfless. 

  The second act of the show began with a primal fierceness as “The Bad in Each Other’s” trademark horn earmarks the unique touch that resembles a  ballad of the classic antihero in a gritty western comparable the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Leslie’s voice permeates from deep down and punches through the darkness connecting soul to soul.  Strapping on the acoustic and strumming the unsettling intro to “When You Comfort Me,”  The crowd, the band and the backup singers need no queues as everyone in the house sings together with a monastery like chant “nah, nah, nah, nah, nah…“   

  In an effort to set the next phase of the night, Leslie asks the crowd to “…imagine this next song by one of two views, either by the Pine Moon or by the Black Lake.” Painting the mind’s scenery has never been easier as “Pine Moon” transfers the patrons to darkened summer camp days with ghostly stories keeping you awake.  Not skipping a beat “Caught a Long Wind” picks up, where the night at camp left off with an acoustic intro leading into a clannish Celtic soundtrack. A sweet and somber melody begins to play as “Get It Wrong, Get It Right” grows into a complete compendium of sound, pushed forward by a beautiful piano backing. 

 
  As the band said their goodbyes, the crowd beckoned an encore.  Not to disappoint Feist returned to the stage and immediately broke into past album favorites such as “When I was a Young Girl” and the crowd mover “Sea Lion Woman.”  The room suddenly became much smaller as the fans packed the front rows tighter than a cattle car.  For those who came for Feist’s first single “Mushaboom,” Feist invites them to sing along as Leslie steps away from the microphone and lets the audience carry the lyrics like a tribe in a trance. The mass of fans began to pair up, resembling a high school dance as “Let it Die’s” concert reputation spread from the Feist concert veterans to the rookies.  Then, again, the band left the stage and said goodnight. 

  However, the crowd still craved more and refused to move.  True to her fans, Leslie returned to the stage solo and grabbed her guitar and strutted into the hit single ”Intuition” from the Grammy Nominated Album “The Reminder.” She called to the crowd,  and was answered in returned with an echo that seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere, as the crowd answered the outro of the song “…did I, did I, did I…”Displaying her wide range of talents, Leslie moves from guitar to piano and closes the show with a piano rendition of “The Water.” Feist delivered a hauntingly regal performance that separates the band from others in its class. For one night, the Egyptian Room was not surrounded by concrete and buildings but by a Cliffside ocean and deep-forested mountains.  Feist live is definitely a savage journey that pierces your heart and appeals to your soul.

Photo by; Lora Olive

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