June 5, 2003

Wow!

Okay, before I get to it, I should mention that Sarah Baravetto, the opening act, was good...but the sound mix, IMO, was terrible. Waaay too much drum and bass, with her voice often being totally drowned out by the band. The distortion in the sound in general was very annoying, so that one couldn't really appreciate (in the true sense of the word) her voice for what it was/is. She did two or three acoustic-y songs, which were nice. DH bought a copy of her CD, so maybe then we will be able to hear the lyrics.

Okay, on to the main event. Mary Fahl was as magnificent as ever! She seemed less inaccessible dark goddess high above and more approachable but VERY gifted down-to-earth woman. Her explanations of various songs and other patter on-stage accomplished this. I don't remember her *ever* talking on-stage at October Project concerts.

She did most of the songs off her new CD, "The Other Side Of Time"; two October Project songs ("Bury My Lovely" and "Deep As You Go", the second she said she appreciates even more, now that she has taken up deep-water diving); and one song that I asked her about afterwards (she was signing CDs in the back of the theatre). It is called "Ghost of Me" and will be on the next CD, she said. Very powerful!

The crowd was very appreciative; and at the end of the concert gave her a standing ovation, bringing her back out for an encore. She performed "Una furtiva lagrima" (from the opera "The Elixir of Love"...this song is on her new CD also).

As always, her voice was as strong and moving at the end of the concert as it was in the beginning. Oh! We arrived early enough that we overheard her vocal exercises/warmups floating down from somewhere upstairs. :-)

Little odds and ends I don't want to forget (and hope I am not already misremembering):

"Into the Great Unknown" - a parable for all the struggle and pathway leading to getting this CD out, getting to this point in her musical career.

"Going Home" - theme song "for a film that tanked" She wrote it from the perspective of the soldier going home...making it a timeless sort of song.

"Ben Aindi Habibi" - a sensual song about a girl waiting/hoping for her lover to return, in an old language that is a mix of Arabic and Spanish. She got it off an album she bought in Spain and was entranced by it.

"Paolo" - about a beautiful person, almost too good for this world. His English was not good; but it was so poetic, even when "wrong", that no one corrected him. He would sometimes be found on hands and knees trying to find his "lenses of contact".

"Annie, Roll Down Your Window" - about her sister and about their travels together ("and it's ALL true!"). She said they always have such fun together.

"Kindness Can Be Cruel" - I cannot remember who the person was that inspired this...but she intended it to have an operatic flair/feel to it.

"Dream of You" - she said she is often inspired by cinema. One night late she was watching the Hitchcock movie (she loves Hitchcock) "Vertigo" on TV and wondered what a theme song for that would sound like...and that's how this song was born.

P.S. Her band was GREAT! I don't remember any of their names, but the sound problems of the opening act were not there at ALL. Everything was lovely, perfect, atmospheric, rocking (when it rocked out--and it DID!), absolutely wonderful!

If you get a chance to see Mary in concert, GO! Be enthralled and come away happy. And buy her new CD!

--fleur

Copyright 2003-2008 Joanna M. Phillips