Regina Spektor - Birmingham 02 Academy

30 November 2009

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A pleasingly large crowd has ventured out into a bitter midwinter's night fast approaching minus temperatures - so we keep being told - to witness the musical magic of one special lady. But before tonight's main draw chanteuse wows a chilly Birmingham, it's up to support act Jenny Owen Youngs to warm up our bones with a solo acoustic set. Jenny looks not unlike her namesake Ms Lewis, in the early Rilo Kiley days, and has a similar soft-spoken yet wry stage manner: she announces 'here are some feelings' before strumming away and bemoans the fact that she forgot to drink beer today. It's a coup then that her snug, heartfelt yet frequently to-the-bone songs are a suitable precursor to tonight's similarly forthright headliner; already featured on TV's off-kilter Weeds, Jenny's What the Fuck Was I Thinking? is just one of her short set's personal yet perfectly formed entries, delivered in a hushed manner but certainly not lacking fire. Count my cockles warmed, Young 'un.

Things really heat up when said chanteuse Regina Spektor arrives though, humbly taking to her piano as she receives the kind of rapturous reception usually reserved for deities and Obama. Joined by a drummer and two guys on string duties, she launches into The Calculation's jaunty yet lovelorn math problem without fuss, and it feels more than apt that the song features the repeated outburst of 'Hey, this fire/ It's burning/ Burning us up'. That's what we're hoping for, missy. Next up are vocab-vetoing ballad Eet and the wacky yet winning Folding Chair, complete with Spektor delivering dolphin sounds during one chorus. The audience is further transported into Regina's own peculiar universe with Ode to Divorce, the first cut not to be lifted from this year's Far album, and it's clear all in attendance are quite happy to be whisked from their dreary Mondays and placed under the magical thrall of the gal at the piano.

With this being the first UK port of call for a tour supporting this year's album, much of tonight's set is lifted from what a lot of fans consider to be her most commercial work to date. It's evident that her most beloved quirks are still at play though, as Laughing With's poignant existential witticisms contrast beautifully with Machine's combination of classical and industrial, this robot really coming to life with the aid of live drums. Other choice cuts from Far include One More Time with Feeling, sung with noteable passion at its climax, and Dance Anthem of the 80s syncopated bass and beats, with loopy lyrics this time performed at a synth. Still, the best thing to come out of this year's output remains Blue Lips, stripped down here as it was when she was hanging out with Jools Holland and highlighting not only the accompanying work of the string players but her own individual strengths: clever wordplay, affecting piano work and a vocal performance that is both fiercely charismatic and yet quietly vulnerable.

Despite the charms of the new material, it's still songs past and her back canon of delightfully random rarities that draw the biggest cheers. During a midset interlude where she leaves her perch on the piano stool, Spektor has the audience hanging on every word during an acapella performance of the oddball Silly Eye Color Generalizations and chuckling as much as if they were at a Tim Minchin gig. The comedic whimsy continues as she picks up a guitar and delivers two of her charmingly erratic yet punchline-heavy best: Bobbin' for Apples wins its way into the hearts of new converts while the old ones are busy joining in with cries of 'Someone next door is fucking to one of my songs!', and That Time's list of increasingly bizarre nostalgias ('Do you remember that time when I would only eat boxes of tangerines? So cheap and JUICY!') are delivered with a characteristic verve and humour. Not long after, she's banging a stick for punctuation purposes on fan fave Poor Little Rich Boy then dropping the mood with the haunting new Ballad of a Politician, a stark performance that takes no prisoners. It's an unexpected yet welcome chill, placed perfectly in a set otherwise full of crowd-pleasers and lush ballads such as 'closer' Man with a Thousand Faces.

The encore is entirely predictable, but only because these are some of her finest and most widely loved songs. Samson's delicacy still has the power to break hearts and is met with the kind of reverance that give the most memorable gigs a communion-like vibe. It's followed by the flawless Us, enjoying a renaissance due to its appearance on (500) Days of Summer's soundtrack (wonder how many couples here tonight saw that and decided it would be a song just for them?), and a joyous Fidelity, inspiring much in the way of hugging and singing from a wildly appreciative audience who just seem so happy to have discovered such a one-off. Leaving her piano one last time to stand at the mic for upbeat send-off Hotel Song, Spektor declares her love for such a loving audience and it's time for a bittersweet parting as houselights say hello. As a smiling mass of people swarm into the icy cold inner city though, our rubbed-up hearts offer some form of central heating and it almost feels apt that it's so freezing anyway - I mean, hey, she's from Russia right? We do need the cold to appreciate being warmed up, after all...

Setlist

The Calculation
Eet
Folding Chair
Ode to Divorce
Machine
Laughing With
Sailor Song
One More Time With Feeling
On The Radio
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Silly Eye Color Generalizations
Bobbin' for Apples
That Time
Apres Moi
Poor Little Rich Boy
Ballad of the Politician
Man of a Thousand Faces

-Encore-
Samson
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song