On her debut self-titled album from earlier this year, Richmond, VA songstress Natalie Prass delivered a collection of deceptively bright, romantic tunes about heartbreak that reveal themselves through repeated listening to, in fact, be rather biting. And although most of the sweeping, orchestral layers heard on tape get eliminated in favour of more stripped down bluesy interpretations on stage, Prass is a joy to watch.
Her flawless vocal performance gave off the impression of a seasoned professional, though it was moments when the façade cracked a bit that were especially endearing. During the fairytale-esque "It Is You," Prass picked up and put on a pair of abandoned glasses she'd found on the stage — an innocuous gimmick that eventually snowballed into the singer donning five pairs of audience-donated shades and laughing to herself as she sang "What am I doing?" between verses.
In addition to solid live renditions of album standouts like "Bird of Prey" and "My Baby Don't Understand Me," Prass and her band also reworked their former tourmate Ryan Adams' "My Winding Wheel" into a set highlight. It was just a shame that the large stage and sparse, sunstroked, unresponsive evening crowd made things a lot less intimate than what the show could've been in a side tent.
Her flawless vocal performance gave off the impression of a seasoned professional, though it was moments when the façade cracked a bit that were especially endearing. During the fairytale-esque "It Is You," Prass picked up and put on a pair of abandoned glasses she'd found on the stage — an innocuous gimmick that eventually snowballed into the singer donning five pairs of audience-donated shades and laughing to herself as she sang "What am I doing?" between verses.
In addition to solid live renditions of album standouts like "Bird of Prey" and "My Baby Don't Understand Me," Prass and her band also reworked their former tourmate Ryan Adams' "My Winding Wheel" into a set highlight. It was just a shame that the large stage and sparse, sunstroked, unresponsive evening crowd made things a lot less intimate than what the show could've been in a side tent.
