Michelle Shocked

Saw MS the other night at City Winery, an odd place for her to perform. She was fine but the venue was a disaster.

The performance set-up never worked, with feedback that the audience could not hear frustrating the musicians. The audience itself was mixed between blue suits drinking primo wine and folks who wanted to hear the music. On my own I sat at a table with Todd and Diane, Todd being a downtown flamer who had to sing along just behind every lyric and shout whenever a prompt required. I sunk into my chair.

How a teenager in East Texas came up with her exceptional body of original work in the late 1980's is unclear from her current performance. It was fine for sure, but full of opinions and thoughts that are not so unique. The album to be released next week is so overproduced that it is almost impossible to listen to. She just needs a mandolin and a fiddle and herself to create another set that would rock us.

Talking to her afterwords, she is just who she is, a person wrangling with reality, kind and open, sensitive and astute. Next time.