Rock as New Music
Tuesday night (Nov 24) British New-Wave rocker Imogen Heap performed at the Vic in Lakeview.
I bought a ticket because her last show in Chicago, at The Riviera, was very enjoyable.
I arrived late because the Red Line was going through some sort of a “slow zone” epidemic.
But I found a seat in the balcony next to a young family with two little girls named Lucy and
Olivia, about ages 5 and 7 respectively. Lucy dozed off during a some of the numbers because
of the late hour, but Olivia paid attention and seemed to enjoy the whole show.
Now back to the music. I missed most of the opening act, but the part I saw was very ingenious.
I think the guy’s name was Tim, and at one point he passed a mic into the stage-front crowd to
record samples of whoos and grunts that he incorporated into his piece. And it happened
with only a few pushes of buttons on his synthesizer.
Imogen Heap is hard to describe, but I’d categorize her as singer-song-writer for the tragically hip.
She’s also mastered the art of sampling and re-play. I.E., she’ll start off a song by pressing a few
underlying keys on the synth and walking off to sing and play a dolled-up Lucite “piano” with the
basic theme. I enjoyed the whole show because it was subtle and expressive of Imogen’s
inner feelings and it wasn’t your typical ear-busting rock concert.
I didn’t see any Chicago “new musicians” in the crowd, but I think it’s something they should be
paying attention to. Imogen will be back to Chicago in April.
Bruce Oltman
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