Live Review: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Atlanta, GA – 10/16/2009

hope_atlantaAfter over 15 years, I finally got the chance to be graced with the presence of Hope Sandoval. On Friday October 16th, Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions performed to a packed standing room only audience at The Loft in Atlanta, GA. While I have been a Mazzy Star fan for years, I actually really find her Warm Inventions material to stand strongly on its own. It has been 8 years since the release of the brilliant “Bavarian Fruit Bread” album and when I heard Hope and company were releasing a new album titled “Through The Devil Softly”, I was not just excited that I was going to get to hear new music; I was going to get to see her live with The Warm Inventions for the first time.

The show kicked off with opening band Dirt Blue Gene who I felt to be a very fitting opener. They had a sound that was like a fine mix of Mazzy Star meets Pink Floyd. The band had a very mellow sound and the use of subtle effects throughout the mix made it a very ear candy type of experience. The band really didn’t have any memorable songs but this isn’t to say that they weren’t good. I felt like they are a band to see in the moment to really get what they’re about. It was also no surprise to find out that they were also The Warm Inventions.

After a surprisingly pleasant 45 minute set, Hope & Co. made their way to the stage. I was right up against the stagehope_setlist because I just had to take in the entire experience up close and personal. Hope Sandoval has to be one of the most captivating performers I have ever seen. I read a lot of reviews of her shows and they always tend to be written by these kind of obsessive, sometimes bordering on stalker, male fans who talk about how beautiful she is and it actually gets kind of creepy. Let me start off by saying that she truly is beautiful but for me, it’s not her beauty that is so captivating; it’s her aura and the way that she appears to be connected to each word she sings with no distractions. She is in it 100% and that projects right to her listeners.

She enters the stage walking kind of briskly to the microphone and she clasps her hands behind her back. She turns to her band and the band launches into “Courtin’ Blues” by Nick Drake. From that moment on, the audience will be completely under her spell. Her presence is very commanding without being abrupt or even direct. She rarely says more than a slight “thank you” after every fourth song or so and the most I heard her say was at the encore where she said, “Thank you. You all are very sweet.” The dark, swirling undertone of “Blanchard” as the third song really drew me into her space and “Around My Smile” from “Bavarian Fruit Bread” was one of my “have to hear this song live” songs.

The stage presence of Hope Sandoval really reminds me of Jim Morrison on a polar opposite spectrum. While Jim did it with utter chaos, disorder and sexual charisma, Hope uses silence and softness as her tools while delivering her songs with a voice that sounded like thick air as she rarely opened her eyes or made any kind of eye contact. As she stood there in the soft blue and purple lights, it was impossible to not be completely pulled in. Her soft, warm voice is completely enveloped by the intricate yet subtle music made by the band and the chemistry between is completely unspoken. It’s almost as if they are on this mental and emotional wavelength with her that they all just flow in and surround her like a warm, musical aura.

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One of the things I was also so impressed to see was the connection they all had to each other as they improvised extended “jams” throughout the songs. Hope’s drummer and creative partner Colm O’Ciosoig made his way to the front to play acoustic guitar on “Satellite” and took over on glockenspiel for a show stopping “Suzanne” which literally brought the house down. Watching Hope play the glockenspiel and vibraphone with such intensity on songs like “Around My Smile” and the dark, haunting and beautifully chaotic set closer “For The Rest of Your Life” was like something I’ve never seen. It was like watching a quiet, fragile person letting you know that she was completely capable of unleashing on you in in a very intense way. It almost made me feel that she could be the type of person that would either cry herself to tears in solitude or rip your fucking head off and make you wish you’d never been born. Again, this goes back to the reason why her presence alone is so fascinating and captivating. Performing to 300+ people in a club isn’t easy task in itself to have that place drawn completely to you and so quiet you can practically hear a pin drop at times is astonishing.

Hope Sandoval has really established herself as a true music icon in my eyes. She has the ability to create such an amazing live experience matched only by that of Bob Dylan in my experience. For over an hour and half, I felt like I was floating and like I was the only person there. There is such intimacy to her performance and her music. The vibe of those songs captured on recorded medium is definitely replicated and in my opinion done so on a much grander level in a live setting. Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions completely took me to a place that I am rarely taken to in a live setting by bands. They took me someplace that I hope to go with them again and again. I still have their music to listen to whenever I want and as I listen, I will always remember that feeling of lightness as I was swept away with a smile.

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