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... by Joanne Corsano ... joanne@picturelake.com

George and Paul help out Zoë Lewis with a song
click thumbnail to see a photo gallery
of the concert

Zoë Lewis, lead vocals, piano, ukulele, guitar, washboard, percussion; Tomoko Iwamoto, violin; Mark Chenevert, clarinet, saxophone, backing vocals; George Harrison and Paul McCartney, sign holding on "Plastic Soup"

First Set

I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Blink - Chili - Has Anybody Seen My Gal? - Somewhere Else [new song] - Bicycle - When Dog Meets Wolf - Exactly Like You [with First Night lyrics]

Second Set

Sweet Georgia Brown - Welcome To The Circus - Vagabond - Never Too Old - Always a Sixpence - Prince of Love - Plastic Soup - Eyelashes

Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.

Has Anybody Seen My Gal?

When Dog Meets Wolf

Prince of Love

Zoë Lewis performed two sets of songs that included a selection of her own tunes old and new, as well as a handful of popular songs that were hits during your grandmother's era. Zoë performed most of the songs on the piano, turning to the ukulele, guitar, and washboard (with percussion) for some of them. All of her songs are melodic and lyrically thoughtful, and they can make the listener get misty eyed or break out in a big smile, in turn.

Accompaniment was provided by one of her regular sidekicks, the very skilled and personable Mark Chenevert on clarinet, saxophone, and backing vocals. Also playing along was the talented and perky Tomoko Iwamoto on violin, whose band had played before Zoë at the Orpheum. It was the first time Tomoko had played with Zoë, and she played along skillfully and was obviously having a blast.

As much as these two musicians pleased the crowd, the show was entirely stolen by the mother and son combo who came up on stage to hold up the signs during "Plastic Soup." (Do you want plastic soup? asks Zoë -- NO! say the signs.) Well, how often do you get George Harrison and Paul McCartney helping you out on stage? These two had attended the Studio Two concert before this one and it was great to see them again! Little "George" was really having fun and is obviously a natural performer.

The show was held at the Orpheum Theater at the front of the stage, in front of the drawn curtain that apparently is opened when movies are being shown on the screen. It makes for a wide stage that is very shallow, but Zoë worked around the awkward shape by having Mark and Tomoko both to her right. I enjoy all of her songs, but the musical highlight for me was the song "Blink," which Zoë wrote in commemoration of the many Covid-era streaming shows she did, calling herself "Zoë Lewis and the Social Distancers," with her many accompanists playing outside her window.

Here is a page with a handy list of links to all pages on this website with content relating to Zoë Lewis.