Review: Brandi Carlile proves she deserves her headliner status at Meijer Gardens

Review: Brandi Carlile proves she deserves her headliner status at Meijer Gardens
Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 11:17 PM Updated: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 9:07 AM

GRAND RAPIDS -- For Brandi Carlile, Wednesday night was all about stepping up, moving up in the standings, reveling in newfound headliner status.

Share And a near-sellout audience of 1,650 at the final concert of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park's summer concert series was more than ready to welcome her to the big time.

Brimming with confidence while fronting a happy, tight rock band that clearly relishes its on-stage role, Carlile powered through about half the songs from her latest, celebrated studio album, "Give Up the Ghost," a handful of older tunes and some impressive covers of classics by The Beatles and Johnny Cash.

It cemented her as a star-in-the-making, after serving as an opening act for the Indigo Girls at Meijer Gardens last year and playing in front of about half as many people at The Intersection in January.

"It was so exciting," Carlile said of her warm-up stint for the Indigo Girls in June 2009. "I swear to God, I said, 'Wouldn't it be great if I could come back here someday and play my own show here?' "

Lucky for Meijer Gardens, she got that opportunity and made the most of it, having grown ever more comfortable playing for bigger crowds -- delivering difficult but pitch-perfect falsettos, slashing at the strings of her guitar, flipping guitar picks to concertgoers.

Her most devoted fans ate it all up, from rocked-up familiar faves "Dreams" and "The Story" to deeper album tracks such as "What Can I Say" and "My Song."

As headliners, Carlile and her band -- twin brothers Tim (guitar) and Phil Hanseroth (bass), Josh Neumann (cello), Allison Miller (drums) -- seem braver and more relaxed these days, able to stretch out while playing longer sets.

"I think I've become a more open performer. ... Now I just go on stage and step aside and let the music come through me," she told me in a recent interview. "It's better to not get out there and make music. It's better to go out there and just let it happen."

Indeed, the evening was actually about two acts finding a bolder voice and a bigger share of the spotlight.

Another pair of twins, The Watson Twins, opened the evening with a solid 40-minute set of indie-pop/rock songs, from originals "Southern Manners" and "Midnight," to a cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine."

The Watson Twins have gone from backing vocalists (last performing in Grand Rapids in 2006 when they backed Jenny Lewis at Calvin College) to frontwomen, which actually suits them quite well.

But on Wednesday night, the spotlight obviously shined the brightest on Carlile, 29, who previously had described her concerts as having become "a combination of the Grand Ole Opry and an old tent church revival thing" with "an Iron Maiden twist."

I'm not sure about that Iron Maiden thing, but Carlile proved she's more than worthy of headlining a Meijer Gardens show, especially after years of playing "chowder houses" in Seattle and opening for teen-pop group Hanson on past tours.

She cleverly taught the crowd to sing three-part harmonies on "Turpentine," unleashed a full-throttle, drum-heavy version of "The Story" to end the main set, and sat behind the piano to play "Let It Be" as a last-minute addition to her encore (while fretting she might violate Meijer Gardens' curfew).

"You've been an incredible audience," Carlile gushed. "I will not soon forget this show."

Nor will many of her fans.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/08/brandi_carlile_proves_she_dese.html