Mary Fahl ~ 2019 March 22 ~ Spire Center for Performing Arts ~ Plymouth, MA
Mary Fahl, accompanying herself with acoustic and electric guitar. Opener: Kala Farnham, accompanying herself on harp and electric piano.
Review
Mary Fahl is an amazing singer with a contralto voice that could have handled opera if she'd gone in that direction. She was a member of a band called The October Project during the 1990s. She described that band as Peter Gabriel meets the Indigo Girls; then she said they were the thinking person's Abba. That gives you an idea. Her songs were all very serious, but her in between banter ranged from very serious to very light. She was very entertaining, and well received by the mostly-full house.
Since I wasn't familiar with her material, the songs I liked best were covers, especially a heartrending version of "Both Sides Now." Mary lovingly praised both Joni Mitchell (who wrote the song) and Judy Collins (who popularized it). She did a cover of a song from Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"; a few years ago she recorded an album that reinterpreted that entire opus. She told a story of a show-and-tell when she was in kindergarten when she sang a sultry love song by a chanteuse popular at the time, and how funny the teacher's reaction was to this unusually prococious performance. She sang an ancient song, many centuries old, from Moorish Spain, and a song by Pavarotti (thus the suggestion that she could have sung opera).
Her husband Rich was in the audience, and she addressed much of her commentary to him, and he helped manage the show, keeping track of how many songs she had done. Her song selection included material from The October Project as well as her own solo songs and the incredible range of covers already referred to.
The show was opened by singer-songwriter Kala Farnham, who played a few songs on the harp and then moved to the piano. She also had a beautiful voice and played some ancient songs. She was an appropriate opener for Mary since she seems to have a similar wide-ranging approach to her music.
I've been to quite a few shows at the Spire in downtown Plymouth and this was the first time a "no pictures, no video" announcement was made. So, I'll blame the performer, not the venue, for the fact that I have no interesting content for this review. I also don't know Mary Fahl's song catalog so I couldn't even keep a set list. My apologies.
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