Joanna Newsom - Live @ Riverbend Centre, Austin TX

It was as if I had stepped into some strange alternate reality. Or better yet, it was as if I had been granted the opportunity to attend the Scenester Senior Prom. Everywhere I looked, as far as my eyes could see, stood the Hipster Elite draped in their finest garb. A vast majority of males present for the event had bathed and shaved recently, donned sports coats, and even pulled our their best shoes. And thus, because their men were dressed up, the women had the perfect opportunity to adorn themselves in their loveliest dresses, tights, heels, and jewelry. It was a beautiful, if surreal, scene to behold - a crowd of delightfully attired 20-to-30-somethings, filled with an overwhelming sense of heady anticipation at the show that was to commence.

The concertgoers were assembled inside the ornate and lavishly appointed Riverbend Centre, a relatively recently constructed venue in northwest Austin, TX, a space designed to provide the one of the more musically aware cities in the world with a higher echelon locale for shows such as this. The event? The occasion for which all of these folks had gilded themselves in their best apparel? The songstress/harpist Joanna Newsom had arrived in Austin to perform her critically acclaimed album Ys while being accompanied by the Ys Street Band, her touring band, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra. This was to be the second stop on a small, regional tour designed to allow Joanna to play through the entire 5-song, 55-minute album in the manner in which it was written and performed during the recording of the album - her incredible harp technique and enchanting vocal stylings, backed by a moderately sized orchestra.

After the orchestra filled the stage and finished tuning their instruments, Joanna stepped onto the stage along with drummer Neal Morgan, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Francesconi (who alternately played acoustic guitar, banjo, & bouzouki throughout the evening), and Peter Bay, the conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. After a rousing bit of applause to greet Ms. Newsom, the crowd fell into an enraptured hush as she sat down to her harp. In the hour that followed, Joanna and the assembled musicians opened up the true majesty of Ys to the crowd, allowing us to soak in and absorb every possible nuance of that album’s score, as originally composed by the inimitable Van Dyke Parks. Suffice to say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen 400 plus hipsters and rock snobs sit so unbelievably quiet and awe-struck, collectively taking in all that Joanna would give.

The most prominent aspect of the orchestral half of the evening was Joanna’s forceful, passionate, percussive harp technique. There was nothing serene or tranquil about how he seemingly attacked the strings with her fingers; nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Furthermore, the live orchestra made the sonic dynamics of the album spring to life as they never truly could on a digital or vinyl recording. The depth and intensity of the crescendos and decrescendos perpetually kept the audience engaged: the soft whispers would draw the audience in only to have the intense exuberance of the increases in pitch, volume and tempo blow away the audience. Each note of each song resonated and pulsed throughout the venue - “Emily” arrived in our ears as the beautiful ode to a physicist sister it was designed to be; the playful vibe of “Monkey & Bear” was artfully maintained; Joanna performed “Sawdust & Diamonds” solo with the same passion and facial expressions seen on rock stars; the intricacies and complexity of “Only Skin” were magnificent and stunning; and the enchanting fairy tale that is “Cosmia” was filled with a fervency and urgency rarely matched by even the loudest rock concerts. A room full of indie rock kids sat awestruck, hanging onto every sound that emanated from the stage.

After a brief intermission wherein the chairs that seated the orchestra were cleared from the stage, Joanna returned to the stage with Neal and Ryan to perform a selection of songs from Milk-Eyed Mender and the Ys Street Band EP. As understandably focused as the trio appeared during the performance of Ys, they appeared to be much more relaxed and at home on the back half of the set. Want some proof? Joanna emerged with a bottle of Maker’s Mark, earning herself cheers, hoots, and hollers of approval from the crowd (even though the bottle was removed by a stagehand at the conclusion of the first song). In terms of the set, the trio played tracks ranging from the whimsical “Bridges & Balloons” to the bouncy tempo of “Peach, Plum, Pear,” while touching other points in between. The two highlights of the second half of the set came back-to-back: Joanna ended her set with a brand-new, yet-to-be-titled, solo song that possessed a gorgeous lullaby/folk song feel to it and then delighted the crowd by returning to the stage for an encore performance of “Milk-Eyed Mender.”

Inevitably, this joyous evening came to a close, but not before Ms. Newsom had successfully won over the crowd with her voice and her music. There was simply no timidity in performance - this is a strong vibrant musician who effectively held the crowd in the palm of her hand for over two hours. And with a crowd who’s most likely seen the best and brightest that contemporary indie rock has to offer, for Joanna to be able to declare that all eyes were focused upon her and her alone is a feat of considerable merit. Thus, on a clear, cool, October evening in Austin, TX, everyone left satisfied - Joanna Newsom played an amazing show with the Ys Street Band and the Austin Symphony Orchestra and a crowd of normally smug, aloof hipsters bore witness to a live performance of one of the hallmark albums of the past decade.