Natalie Merchant finds the carnival in san francisco!
Natalie Merchant – The Masonic – San Francisco May 30, 2024
Pictures and Words: Jim Brown
Arriving at the Masonic Auditorium—buried deep in San Francisco’s downtown—one can’t help but be awed by the enormity of the construction completed some 60 years ago that includes a massive hand-laid mosaic as the backdrop for the downstairs bar (full length of two floors, something you won't see at Concord Pavillion or anywhere else). It almost did not matter who was on the bill tonight, the auditorium itself was enough of a treat to immediately satisfy this music fan. Don’t you just hate seeing your favorite band in a real crappy place? Not to worry, tonight the Masonic delivered the perfect venue for one of our longtime favorite recording artists...Natalie Merchant.
Music Fan Magazine was given the opportunity (thank you, Live Nation) to witness Natalie in full regal as she swung through a tour schedule that included a make-up show in San Francisco, missed the year before due to band illness (Covid sucks). We all know Natalie’s music because we have heard it on our radios since the mid 80s, especially when her former band 10,000 Maniacs released 1992’s “Our Time in Eden” and Natalie stretched that vocal gift on hits like “These Are The Days” and “Candy Everybody Wants.” You know you sung along to those songs as loud as you could, maybe with the top down in that Volkswagen Cabriolet on your way to the mall because Swatch just released the latest version of a wristwatch. It's ok, Natalie and those Maniacs were right...those WERE the days.
That was then, feelings changed, and in 1994 Natalie left the 10,000 Maniacs and started down her own path that would stay strong for another 30 years...simply brilliant. I picked up on her songs around the time Tigerlily was turned loose in 1995, setting Natalie free to wander the musical landscapes with support from friends like Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Tracy Chapman of...well, it’s Tracy Chapman, so there you go.
Tigerlily gave us “San Andreas Fault” and “Jealousy,” but it also gave us the rhythmic hip-shaking groove that forces Natalie into that dress spinning, funkalicious foot shuffle called “Carnival.” Listen to that song and see if your butt doesn’t start moving on its own...it's impossible to defeat participation in the collective movement that song brings to any room of people. Pretty funny to see on this night, as this was one of the last songs she sang, and the audience was good and lubricated from the $18 beers...we must have looked like a bunch of ants predicting an earthquake or something. Sorry, I didn’t get confirming pictures of this but let your imagination wander and you won’t be far from correct.
Earlier in the show, Natalie got into “Ophelia,” and it was about that time I got some dust in my eye or something because they got glassy and wet. This was slightly embarrassing, but we were in it now and I was locked in to her every word. Plus...there was a string section brought in especially for this tour so you're a goddamn fool if you think you can keep your business together when you are in the same room as Natalie Merchant whispering wisdom through the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco for a sold-out crowd on a school night. The dude to my left must have figured the $42 beers were taking hold because I was completely melted at the end of that song as I quietly begged Jesus for her to stop. Glad it was dark. Time for another $84 cocktail (price doubled after intermission I guess).
This night was especially special because Natalie Merchant almost stopped a few years ago. Check it out on the interweb, but after an unexpected discovery resulting from a simple fall while in London, Natalie almost lost her voice. Realizing she had a degenerative spinal condition, doctors performed surgery that required moving vocal cords out of the way so they could get to the affected area. I’m glad I wasn’t that doctor...he or she must have been on pins and needles during the procedure. I assume it would be like running a marathon while holding the Mona Lisa with english soccer fans throwing beer at you...glad the doctors had more skill than a regular person and treated Natalie well enough to allow her to be in front of us tonight. Thank you, fine sir or madam, whomever you are.
Natalie Merchant drives deep with the delivery of her lyrics, and the pause and reflection she demonstrates after each verse, and the care and concern she seems to have for the audience made me feel like she was singing to me personally (cue the waterworks)!
Introducing Abena Koomson-Davis on songs like “Big Girls” and “Sister Tilly” from her latest album Keep Your Courage, Natalie was perfect in her selection of songs, including the penultimate hit “Life Is Sweet.” Damn...as the kids say these days...she is FIRE!
So here we are getting close to the show closing at the Masonic and Natalie is right in front of us, still smiling, still singing at a level that sounds as good as it ever did. The jet-black hair has been replaced by something representing years of stories and experience, but it accompanies her wonderfully as she interacts with an outstanding group of support musicians and her guest Abena. Not much left, except there was...she closed the show with Jack Kerouac because she said her tradition was to include a song in her set that was set in the town she was playing...and San Francisco is very Jack-centric so she had no choice really.
I don’t know if Natalie will ever see this article, maybe she will, and if she does, I hope to give her this final message about her performance at the Masonic: thank you for giving us all the great music for the past 40 years, and thank you for playing San Francisco, and thank you for being one of the best songwriters we have ever had the pleasure to witness in person, and thank you, thank you, I just want to thank you, you have been so kind and generous...as the music played on, with the crowd singing well after you left the stage (even in the ladies’ room!)
Thank you, Natalie.
We know the photographs of tonights show were seemingly taken from the parking lot 1/2 mile away, that is because the tour asked last minute not to shoot from front of stage and this photographer was caught holding a lens that couldn't reach from that distance. Shooting from behind the mix board with a 105mm didn't quite cut it. It happens.
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter: None. Surprising because it sure seemed like it was going to get cloudy at any second, but the LiveNation staff were well trained and on the hunt so nobody lit anything up.
Fight Meter: Tears maybe, that's the biggest struggle we saw on this night.
Sing Along Meter: The problem here is Natalie sings softly on some songs so you would get called out if you tried matching notes with her...but in the end during the final few songs the crowd let go and the sold out attendees proved to be an excellent back up squad.