Image by Kirstie Shanley
Chicago fans sit down for Kimya Dawson's hipster story time
April 14, 2008, at the Mansion
By Noreen Sobczyk
Published: April 15th, 2008 | 10:30pm
The historic Knights Templar mansion is an odd place to attend a concert, yet the quirky, intimate venue known simply as the Mansion seemed to be a perfect fit for Kimya Dawson. The crowd created a surreal version of hipster "story time" as they sat cross-legged on the floor for Dawson's performance — sans the carpet squares and snack time. Opinions of Dawson's music are divisive in the music community. Some view her Olive Oyl voice and pretension-eschewing lyrics as earnest and refreshing. Others see her as an amateurish, real-life version of hapless coffee-house performer Phoebe from Friends with bipolar disorder.
A seated Dawson and her guitar somehow made the tiny stage seem large and barren. She made no attempt to hide several musical errors, announcing them with remarks such as "oops" and "oh, that's not right," as she repeated the same parts until she executed the guitar correctly. Her playing was palpably rushed, and she mentioned the Chicago curfew several times. Perhaps the all-ages show and the venue's resulting early closing time were in mind and she was simply trying to give her audience more bang for their buck, but it was to the detriment of the performance.
Her sometimes off-key, cracking vocals didn't seem to bother anyone, least of all Dawson. She even mockingly mentioned a conversation overheard in the studio about another performer's use of Pro Tools. She was, however, humorous, especially when talking about the scandals of Michael Jackson and Paul Reubens ("I love me some Pee Wee"), as she launched into her song "My Heroes" from Hidden Vagenda (K Records). The mostly mellow crowd laughed as she played a homoerotic song about Randy “Macho Man” Savage, written by her brother, Akida Junglefoot Dawson. It's songs like those that pleased audience members hoping for a bit of parody a la Moldy Peaches' "Who's Got the Crack."
For those looking for a reprisal of all things Juno (for which Dawson, in varying incarnations, contributed roughly half of the songs), this simply was not their night. It was a communion for diehard fans featuring her solo career's silly, sad, and often awkward compositions.
It is the blend of blissful glee, fearless honesty, and destructive depression exorcised through song that had the small crowd enraptured. Some expressed discomfort when Dawson mentioned that her mother recently had two tumors removed; explaining the tour served to keep Dawson busy and not let her mother know she's afraid she might die. She then launched into "My Mom" from her 2006 album Remember That I Love You (K Records) singing solemnly, "I will lose my shit if even one more person I know dies, so please don't die." It's the blend of melancholy and adult realism, mingled with unsullied lyrics name-dropping Sesame Street's Mr. Hooper, Bert, and Ernie.
These nostalgic childhood references led seamlessly to Dawson's performance of songs from her forthcoming children's release, Alphabutt. Describing the music, she said it's "basically the same as my other stuff, but a lot of uptight parents don't let their kids hear the word 'cock.'" The audience participated in making animal noises and singing along while Dawson sang about liking bears, an A-to-Z of farts, and explicated a body image song, singing we're all animals with "hair down there."
Sneaking messages about beauty standards into a children's album is precisely the sort of subversion her audience seems to cherish. Her signature wordplay remained evident as she sang "Animals like what's natural, don't care about what's fashionable." She may be the modern, indie-feminist version of Peter, Paul and Mary.
Issue #35
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more