February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
He has indeed been busy since his debut album, “O”, was released in February 2002, making the rounds on late-night talk shows, winning the ultra-prestigious Shortlist Prize, and selling out venues everywhere he goes.
Rice is accustomed to playing on smaller stages and in clubs, so at Friday’s show at Manhattan’s Beacon Theater, the challenge was to present the same songs differently and to a larger audience, some who would be seeing him for the first time.
As soon as Rice took the stage with his faithful players, one could notice the difference immediately. Rice’s voice filled the theater and still managed to stay at a whisper.
Rice has called Lisa Hannigan his secret weapon, and her satin voice adds an element of beauty to his sometimes darker songs. Cellist Vyvienne Long makes her instrument sound as if one should be standard with every singer-songwriter’s live act. Crowd favorite Tomo makes playing the drums look like great fun.
The band seamlessly went through the ups and downs that punctuate Rice’s songs of loss, love, and life. While it is those tenets that most singer-songwriters make their living on, it is Rice’s unique melody and feeling that has set him apart in both critics and fans eyes.
Rice’s stage show has successfully been rearranged to work in a larger venue. His confidence in his playing is apparent, and he even picked up an electric guitar for one song, shocking some who have never seen him part with his faithful acoustic.
Rice’s skill in weaving personal stories and introductions into his songs seemed to transform the Beacon into a much smaller venue. Indeed, the show was still relaxed and personal, which is what Rice’s fans wanted to see.
Since Rice apparently didn’t want to risk boring the crowd, he played jazzier renditions of his singles “Volcano” and “Cannonball,” the songs that first shot him into the public eye. That turned out to be a wise choice as the crowd responded positively.
There were moments that the stage aspect bordered on gimmicky — singer Lisa Hannigan wielded some metallic objects on strings and proceeded to fling them in circles, apparently meant to look like comets against the starry lighting going across the stage.
As for the stage, Rice settled on a stark look. The back curtain was drawn back to reveal ladders and stagehand supplies resting against a brick wall. Closer inspection revealed that this was not a fa