Combine an awesome venue like the Birchmere with a talented songwriter with an awesome voice and you get a splendid evening. Such was the case Tuesday night with Rachael Yamagata. Her deep, sultry voice and her sad loungey-sounding songs were perfect for the intimate atmosphere of the club. She played with just two other band members in a more striped down version of her tour that is out and about backing her most recent album “Chesapeake.”
Onstage, she mixed the generally strong new material with older favorites and played especially beautiful on keyboards, lending poignancy to her often heartrending lyrics. Unsurprisingly her cover of Annie Lennox’s killer-sad song “Why” fit right in with her repertoire. The only drawback perhaps to the evening was that she had already sung earlier in the day outside at the National Cherry Blossom Festival and by the end of the Birchmere show her normally gorgeous voice was pretty whipped. Still, it was a pretty great show, so if you get a chance to see her at a small venue, don’t miss it. Here is the set list that she played on March 27:
Even If I Don’t
Why (Annie Lennox song)
Saturday Morning
Sunday Afternoon
Elephants
Starlight
Worn Me Down
Duet
Be Be Your Love
You Won’t Let Me
Dealbreaker
Meet Me by the Water
Reason Why
