Singer, Songwriter & Creative Storyteller, Suzanne Vega Brings Her Intimate Show To Chicagoland For One Night In Schaumburg

Apr 20, 2024 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

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By Harrison Kristoff

Tonight at the Al Larson Prairie Center For The Arts in Schaumburg, we got a visit from New York Neo-Folk artist Suzanne Vega. The poet laureate who gave us Grammy hits and the soundtrack to our youth with inspiring songs about love & loss and even a dance club single that still rings in the halls today with “Tom’s Diner” being sampled and remixed in infinite loop. Miss Vega performed an intimate show for Chicago’s north western suburbs providing private stories about her youth, comical whims about family and friends, studio insight to new songs coming soon, all intermixed between iconic tracks that bring delight too so many.

Vega is on a mini tour of the midwest with this stop just one of only thirteen total. This tour dubbed, ‘Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs’, is that and more as she weaves stories of her life through wit and song to a sold out crowd in upstate Illinois. Fans lined up early to get in from the cold rain and had a chance to buy limited merch from the artist’s table direct that included cd’s, vinyl releases, tour poster and even hand written song lyric sheets of “Luka” signed and numbered by Vega herself.

Once we entered the brick lined 442 seat theatre, we were swiftly seated as the show started right on time. The lights dimmed, her name was announced and she walked out to greet the fans who braved the weather to be there for the weeknight show.

Vega says hello to the crowd and introduces us to her guest musician. Joining her on stage is her long time collaborator and former Bowie guitarist, Gerry Leonard who we soon after witnessed his greatness. It’s truly amazing what sounds these two individuals make together. Leonard is a master of pedalboards creating an almost orchestral sound of ambient loops and fills making it hard to believe there is only two musicians on stage.

This performance was a real treat. Not only did we get to hear the classics she earned a name from like “Luka”, Tom’s Diner” and “99.9F°”, but deep cuts like “Gypsy”, new songs with “Rats” (a Ramones-esque tune) and even a cover song never played live before with the Grateful Dead’s “China Doll”. Vega told the story of how she was asked to play with the Dead in 1988 at Madison Square Garden when Jerry Garcia asked her to join them.

The songs this evening were stripped down to the core just Vega, her guitar and partner Leonard. They played through 18 songs in the time we had with her. Her masterful storytelling weaved the narrative between song and life experiences. One story started off the night, about being young and working at a summer camp and meeting a young boy who she befriended and became romantically involved with. This inspired her to pen “Gypsy”. A song about that boy. He was someone that had an impact on her from their shared love of Leonard Cohen as she wrote a song about their fleeting love affair. Later, a part two of sorts as she visited his home town, “In Liverpool”. Later explaining more of that story running into him again later in life.

Vega continues with great tales of life with stories of her mother being from the midwest, telling the audience, “My mother wanted me to tell you hi and that she is from the Midwest.” In which an audience member quickly replies, “Tell her hi from us!” All part of her quick wit humor and interactions that are strewn throughout the evening.

She reveals sometimes she makes mistakes with playing live music, as every now and then, she get the lyrics for “The Queen and the Soldier” mixed up with all the “he said / she said” lines, where “Every once in a while, he’s in the castle and she’s up on the doorstep”. She came back with, “But not today, I caught it!” While not a classically trained musician, she has taught herself more than most know as, she’s the one with the Grammy, and we are not.

Ending the night was an encore that included the aforementioned Grateful Dead tune follow by “Tombstone” and “Rosemary”. She tells the story of how “Tombstone” is actually a “happy song” much to contrary beliefs. A tale about a call from her mother letting her know that their pet cat’s passed and how she took care of it, ending with a river wake Viking funeral.

This is one of those shows that you need to see live. Her voice, while docile, is powerful, not in volume, but prowess. The songs are stripped down and even more powerful as she seemingly sings to you direct. Hearing the backstory to the classics brings you in closer to her and her music. The bonus, is hearing the new songs not yet available. They’re slightly raw, but fresh. Letting us in to her secrets before being scribed to vinyl. The partnership of her with Leonard’s wizardry on guitar, is magical making this show truly and intimate evening with song and story.

If you’re lucky enough to be in one of these midwestern towns for this tour, come out and witness it for yourself. For us here in the Chicagoland area, we are blessed with not just this nights show, but one more next week in Evanston at SPACE.

For more on Suzanne Vega and other tour dates, click here

For photos from the show at the Prairie Center, click here

 

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