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Batschkapp, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
5th May 2009
Ingrid Michaelson, Martin & James

As she grew up in a New York artists´ family, it seemed to be INGRID MICHAELSON´s destiny to get in touch with music at a young age. When she was a child, the half-Swedish musician learnt to play the piano and took vocal lessons. After getting her high school diploma, she decided to take classes concerning theatre studies and joined a playing company on its tour through the USA. After the rehearsals, she wrote some songs and enthused her first listeners with her expressive voice.

In 2002, Ingrid gave her first performances on the stage of a Staten Island bar. Furthermore, she released her self-produced album `Slow the Rain´ on her own. It was the networking website MySpace that finally led to Ingrid’s breakthrough: When she published several songs taken from her second album `Girls and Boys´ (2007) there, she got a lot of attention and was able to attract a big following. The music manager Lynn Grossman was one of the attentive listeners who had fallen in love with INGRID MICHAELSON´S extraordinary style and her charming voice. Grossman made the ballad `Breakable´ accompany with a sequence of the popular US-series “Grey´s Anatomy” and caused a real INGRID MICHAELSON hype. Suddenly, the songs entered the I-tunes charts and Ingrid was asked to be the supporting act for JASON MRAZ on his European tour leg. By releasing `The Way I am´, Ingrid also became well-known in Germany in 2008. Since that year, her third album `Be OK´ has been in stores and `Girls and Boys´ has been available on German territory too. Supported by the Scottish duo MARTIN & JAMES, the pretty singer went on her “Be OK-Tour” and spent a concert evening at the Frankfurt club Batschkapp on 5th May. http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson



When I arrived at the venue, I was one of the first guests who took refuge under a sunshade due to the rain. Perhaps many other listeners decided to come later. After the overly punctual admission had taken place, I found a standing room in the first row and was wet and chilled to the bone when the supporting act MARTIN & JAMES entered the stage.


Martin & James

As the name implies, the band MARTIN & JAMES consists of the two young men: Martin Kelly and James O’Neill. The Glasgow-born guys got to know at school in 1997 and firstly played in the band THE SLEEPING PROPHETS. After the formation broke up, the two musicians concentrated on writing their own songs and formed the project MARTIN & JAMES. http://www.martinandjames.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/martinandjames

Music & Performance
They both held an acoustic guitar in their hands when the guys started to perform. The Batschkapp audience welcomed them frenetically like good old friends. Right from the start, the Scots captivated the crowd with their acoustic pop similar to the music of CROWDED HOUSE. The melancholic songs they played were very emotional, melodious and they invited to dream. All in all, they performed eight songs such as `Wrong Directions´, `I was blind´, `Crashing into Love´, `You’re alive´ and `Broken Sword´. The latter one was very intensive in particular and I could imagine listening to the guys´ music at home. Besides the acoustic guitars, MARTIN & JAMES also played the cembalo, the harmonica and percussions.



Although the band firstly appeared a bit restrained and shy, they received warm applause and I also thought that the supporting act and the host INGRID MICHAELSON were a good match according to the music’s style. Before they made room for INGRID MICHAELSON, MARTIN & JAMES had thanked the audience for the nice welcome and invited everybody to join them at the merchandise stand. Due to the catchy and emotional acoustic ballads, I really liked the duo and I can imagine attending another concert of them.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 3
Total: 6.5 / 10


Ingrid Michaelson

A short change over without any visible effects on the stage design took place, because there weren’t any backdrops, letterings or logos referring to INGRID MICHAELSON. While the crew was removing some equipment, I talked to a group of fans that had seen Ingrid one year ago when she had toured with JASON MRAZ. Shortly before 10pm, the few light spots went off and the about 650 guests gave a loud welcome to INGRID MICHAELSON and her guitarist ALLIE MOSS.

Music & Performance
I own the albums `Girls and Boys´ and `Be OK´ that totally convinced me. Thus, I wasn’t very surprised that I experienced the same when I was listening to the first measures of the opener `Die alone´ - I was touched right from the start. My first impression was that the 29-years-old INGRID MICHAELSON looked very, very young with her long hair, the glasses (that had become her trademark) and in the red blouse, the skinny jeans and the knee-length boots she was wearing. She intonated the mainly acoustic guitar-driven pieces with her clear voice and partly seemed to be nearly absent-minded. It seemed to me that she was able to reach everyone in the venue, as she gained huge applause lasting several minutes - a phenomenon she accepted with a smile and by saying that we were so German. Of course, that raised a laugh. It’s difficult to compare INGRID MICHAELSON to other artists, as her style is very individual and a kind of classic. If you prefer female singers such as HEATHER NOVA or SARAH MCLACHLAN, perhaps you will find pleasure in Ingrid’s music.



Besides the airy vocals (that were impressively accompanied by Allie’s guitar playing), Ingrid scored with her dry sense of humour she is famous for. When she started to sing `The Hat´, she wanted the crowd to intonate the line “I should tell you that you were my first love”. Actually, she wasn’t satisfied with the first attempt and asked for more passion. To make clear what she wanted to hear, she told us to imagine that we were having a date with her and now it was time to say goodbye. In her opinion, we wouldn’t leave her with a kiss on the cheek, but with a passionate French kiss. By describing the situation, Ingrid displayed that funny gestures and facial expressions and made all the people laugh. The setlist contained mainly several pieces taken from her albums and some brilliant cover songs such as a fragile and heartbreaking version of `Over the Rainbow´.



Her chart hit `The Way I am´ shouldn’t be missed as well and she involved the audience in the performance who had to do the clapping. Every now and then, INGRID MICHAELSON stopped the song and was tickled pink when she watched somebody who continued the clapping. Disguising her voice, she finally rewarded the crowd by presenting a kind of a smurf version. Though she was smiling and joking, she also convinced with her breathtaking voice in a serious way. I have never listened to such a splendid version of the REM song `Night Swimming´ before and I would even prefer Ingrid’s interpretation, as she sung like a siren with an unique voice that was underlined by Allie’s vocals. The ELVIS PRESLEY song `Can’t help falling in Love´ was the last additional title she performed. Obviously touched and receiving ear-deafening applause, she finally left for good.



Setlist
01. Die alone
02. Breakable
03. Corner of your Heart
04. Overboard
05. The Chain
06. The Hat
07. Lady in Spain
08. Be Ok
09. Giving up
10. Everybody
11. Far away
12. The Way I am
13. Keep breathing
14. Locked up
15. Over the Rainbow
---
16. Something more
17. Night Swimming
---
18. Can’t help falling in Love

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 4
Total: 7.7 / 10



All pictures by Katrin Renner (http://www.creavision-webdesign.de/)

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