Jann Arden - Edmonto Journal Review

CONCERT REVIEW

Jann Arden

When: Wednesday

Where: Jubilee auditorium second show tonight at 8

Sometime in the past decade or so, Jann Arden's voice became one of those that would often come to mind while you were suffering in the depths of a heartbroken, TV drama-style crisis.

On a particularly wistful bus trip you might find yourself imagining the chords of Good Mother or Insensitive scoring the ride, and it's that sentimental, somewhat cheesy place she holds in many Canadians'hearts that Arden likes to poke fun at.

Though she jokes about her songs being depressing, like she did last night about Leave Me Now, a song she's never performed live before her current tour, it's no secret that the 47-year-old Calgary chanteuse frequently sells out her concerts because audiences have come to love not only her woeful tunes, but also her notoriously wicked sense of humour.

Last night, in her first of two performances at the Jubilee Auditorium, Arden delivered a two-and-a-half-hour show chock full of old favourites and new songs, all interspersed with scathing anecdotes and her characteristic sassy banter.

The show felt more like an evening jam in the Arden family living room than a packed concert hall--this feeling hit home especially after she introduced the members of her outstanding six-piece backup band through a photo album slide show, which included childhood pictures of the musicians, as well as scenes from Arden's personal past, including some of her bad-hair decisions from the '80s.

Of course, it wasn't all comedy. Arden's vocals were strong and emotive, her performance variations refreshingly different from her album versions--particularly fun was the reggae-infused rendition of I Would Die For You.

Opening with the title track from her latest album, Free, Arden took the stage alone with a guitar, gently strumming until the curtains behind revealed the band, already jamming with enthusiasm, guitar ist Keith Scott was an immediate, skilled standout.

Looking For it, from 1994's Living Under June, followed soon behind, and after encouraging the audience to take as many flash pictures as they pleased, Arden kicked into the Nashville-style ballad The Devil Won.

The set list featured songs from nearly every Arden album, including Sleepless from Blood Red Cherry, and Wishing That from 1997's Happy?

Arden's cover of Janis Ian's At Seventeen was soft and tender, as were Where No One Knows Me and Could I Be Your Girl.

The band got to show their gusto in a rousing, powerhouse cover of Sly and the Family Stone's Higher, and Arden toned things back down with the sombre Everybody's Broken.

Arden is living proof that an artist can write 10 albums' worth of good, sad songs and still remember not take everything so darn seriously --and that crafting a memorable performance can be as simple as treating the audience like family.

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