Feist rocks Chicago’s Park West

The January 2006 performance fuses musical splendor, humor, and a disco ball

By Dina Zwiebel
Published: February 9th, 2006 | 4:28pm

If the strong, smoky, and, at times, wistful vocals on her second album, Let It Die, didn’t completely bewitch you, Feist’s January 26, 2006, show at Chicago’s Park West proved that her recipe of edge and melody is exceptional.

The two-hour set included songs from Let It Die, covers of songs such as Ron Sexsmith’s “Secret Heart,” and new songs, including a tune she described as “halfway between a ballad and a ditty … a B. Diddy.” While Let It Die is an excellent album to fall asleep to, performed live, this former punk and rap vocalist invigorated the songs. She precariously used her voice to sculpt the sound of the lyrics and paid careful attention to the percussive effect that silence can lend to melody.

Each of the four covers was a fresh and different take on the original. The Canadian songstress went so far as to do a cover of a cover — before performing the Bee Gees’ “Inside Out,” a track on Let It Die, Feist asked the audience to hold up a lighter or cell phone once they figured out which song she was singing. “I’m trying to make it unrecognizable,” she said. It took only a minute to light up the venue, everyone holding his or her version of what Feist called “the sequin in your pocket.”

Other highlights included “Major Label Debut” by Broken Social Scene, from the band’s 2005 self-titled album. It was appropriate, considering the chanteuse is a sometimes member of the band and appeared on Broken Social Scene and 2002’s You Forgot It in People.

Feist sang a new song called “Intuition” as a solo until the last verse, when her all-male band filed slowly onstage. When the verse was over, the band went into the chorus, singing mock-despondently, “Did I? Did I? / Did I? Did I?” This blend of humor and unique song arrangement was present throughout the show, creating an amiable atmosphere and blurring the line between performer and audience.

Before the fourth and last encore, Feist asked the audience to “raise your hand if you’re not broken-hearted.” Since she wanted to “give kudos to love that lasts,” she asked one couple who raised their hands to slow dance onstage. Then she asked that the disco ball be turned on. Feist sang the reflective ballad “Let It Die” as the couple danced and the ball slowly spun its twinkling light around the room. At the end of the show the audience had stars in their eyes.