Editors Note: This review will be considered for publication in Interlude Magazine.

At 10:56 pm Ingrid Michaelson and her band launched into their set before the curtains were even drawn. Unlike other musicians that try to build that anticipation before their set, her band didn’t need it- they already had the buzz, the just needed to prove why. But, as soon as Ingrid started singing, my expectations had been met.

I read in an interview that Ingrid had originally studied drama/ musical theatre at university but ended up switching majors. This explained a lot because she has a sharp wit and confident stage personality that makes her magnetic. At one point in the show, an audience member screamed something at her. Ingrid shot back that she sounded like Little Orphan Annie and then proceeded to spout out lines from the film mimicking her. Suffice to say, she had the crowd cackling for much of the night.

Ingrid’s performances are what live shows are supposed to be - a participatory experience with an exchange between the artist and listener. In her case, she managed to get an LA crowd singing along to her songs with little effort. It seemed like the crowd was already familiar with her songs and clapped along to “The Way I Am” without being asked. As an intro to “Overboard”, she decided to quiz the audience by giving three hints and coaxed us not to give away the answer until she had finished. When the time came, most of the audience had shouted out the correct answer. On “The Hat” she asked the audience to sing the line “I should tell you that you were my first love”. Normally, asking the audience to sing anything can be a dissonant distraction. In her case, it was a beautiful addition to her vocals and drew the audience deeper into her performance.

Listening to her record, I really didn’t notice the nuances in her vocals. She creates a vibrato that reminds me a lot of Interlude cover woman Missy Higgins. Allie Moss, Ingrid’s guitarist and backing vocalist was a stellar addition to the show. Most of Michaelson’s songs have multiple vocal parts and together, they create a complex harmony superior than any loop peda or Mac effect. This is apparent in “The Chain” when guest vocalist Priscilla Ahn joined Ingrid and Allie for a singer- songwriter threesome (pun intended). The song is three part vocal canon that is a powerhouse of emotion. Dependent entirely on the vocals for impact, the piano is subtle enough to accompany without detracting from the vocals. It really takes three singers to pull this one off.

Some of my favorite songs of the night was “Masochist” and “Corner of Your Heart”. On “Masochist”, my favorite parts was when her voice drops as she finished the end of each line and the escalation at the end of the bridge. On “Corner of Your Heart”, Ingrid played piano and was accompanied by Allie Moss on backing vocals. The song deviates from her usual pop song structure to reveal the fragility in her music.

With a set clocking in over an hour and a half, the crowd never tired of her. She played nearly her entire record along with poignant covers of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Through the Dark” and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz. In between her stories, jokes, crowd participation, and her selection of songs, there was never a moment where I wasn’t completely engrossed.

Set List (incorrect order):

Die Alone
Breakable
Overboard (crowd quiz)
Glass
Keep Breathing
One Day (new song)
I Will Follow You Through The Dark (Death Cab for Cutie Cover)
Starting Now
What A Day (semi- new song about moving on)
Lady In Spain (ingrid on mouth trumpet + telling everyone to close their eyes)
Chain (w/ Priscilla Ahn)
The Hat (crowd sings along to the line “I should tell you that you were my first love”)
Far Away
Masochist
Something More (audience sing along girls vs. boys)
The Way I Am (crowd participation: clapping)

Encore
—————–
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
(there was another song played after this one but i might have included it above)

Opening Act: Greg Laswell

The rest of the photos from the night can be found on the audio taco Flickr page