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Town Hall 1995
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Town Hall 1995
Current price: $25.99
Barnes and Noble
Town Hall 1995
Current price: $25.99
Size: OS
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Victoria Williams
is a gifted but polarizing performer -- you'll either be thoroughly charmed by her playful eccentricity, sunny optimism, "aw, shucks" demeanor, and home-brewed storytelling, or you'll want to walk out before the first song is over. But even those put off by her style (which, for good or ill, never seems less than sincere) would have a hard time denying her skill as a songwriter, and if you dig beneath the surface of her lyrics, you'll find well-crafted tales of real lives that aren't all sweetness and light. In 1995,
Williams
was touring in support of one of her best albums,
Loose
, with many of the musicians who played on the sessions joining her on the road. One of the dates from the tour was recorded and released in 1995 as
This Moment: In Toronto with the Loose Band
, and 21 years after the fact, another concert from the same run of shows has been given commercial release.
Town Hall 1995
features a guest appearance from one noted
fan,
Lou Reed
, who leads
and the band through a low-key but winning rendition of "Sweet Jane," with the notoriously prickly
Reed
striving admirably to play nice (his admonition "Sing into the mike, Vic" is unexpectedly hilarious). Beyond that unusual moment,
plays pretty much like
This Moment
, which is to say it finds
and her crew in splendid form. These performances lend the songs a greater warmth than the studio renditions, and the musicians play with both taste and feeling, especially pianist
Tim Ray
, multi-instrumentalist
David Mansfield
, bassist
Joey Burns
, drummer
Don Heffington
, and guitarist and bandleader
Andy Williams
(no, not the "Moon River" guy).
is at the top of her game here, singing with passion and gentle force, and the set list is strong. Given that
' health problems have prevented her from recording or touring with regularity since the turn of the century, any addition to her catalog is a welcome event, and even if
sometimes overlaps with
, the charm of this album is real, and anyone with a taste for her unique world view should enjoy it greatly. ~ Mark Deming
is a gifted but polarizing performer -- you'll either be thoroughly charmed by her playful eccentricity, sunny optimism, "aw, shucks" demeanor, and home-brewed storytelling, or you'll want to walk out before the first song is over. But even those put off by her style (which, for good or ill, never seems less than sincere) would have a hard time denying her skill as a songwriter, and if you dig beneath the surface of her lyrics, you'll find well-crafted tales of real lives that aren't all sweetness and light. In 1995,
Williams
was touring in support of one of her best albums,
Loose
, with many of the musicians who played on the sessions joining her on the road. One of the dates from the tour was recorded and released in 1995 as
This Moment: In Toronto with the Loose Band
, and 21 years after the fact, another concert from the same run of shows has been given commercial release.
Town Hall 1995
features a guest appearance from one noted
fan,
Lou Reed
, who leads
and the band through a low-key but winning rendition of "Sweet Jane," with the notoriously prickly
Reed
striving admirably to play nice (his admonition "Sing into the mike, Vic" is unexpectedly hilarious). Beyond that unusual moment,
plays pretty much like
This Moment
, which is to say it finds
and her crew in splendid form. These performances lend the songs a greater warmth than the studio renditions, and the musicians play with both taste and feeling, especially pianist
Tim Ray
, multi-instrumentalist
David Mansfield
, bassist
Joey Burns
, drummer
Don Heffington
, and guitarist and bandleader
Andy Williams
(no, not the "Moon River" guy).
is at the top of her game here, singing with passion and gentle force, and the set list is strong. Given that
' health problems have prevented her from recording or touring with regularity since the turn of the century, any addition to her catalog is a welcome event, and even if
sometimes overlaps with
, the charm of this album is real, and anyone with a taste for her unique world view should enjoy it greatly. ~ Mark Deming
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