It's rare that indie pop songstresses break into the big venues, so Regina Spektor's show on Tuesday night at Verizon Wireless Theater was a coup in and of itself. And despite the less-than-intimate seating arrangement, the near sell-out crowd seemed to eat it up.
From the moment Spektor took to the stage at her grand piano, the audience was still, almost reverent, paying rapturous attention and only occasionally swaying to the music. When she broke into some of her more bouncy, upbeat tunes like "On the Radio," a call of "Dance, white people!" rang through the crowd.
Spektor is a rare performer who sounds better live; on CD, her quiet notes sound breathy but live they still sparkle with subtle warmth and tone. After about a half-dozen songs, including "Laughing With" and "The Calculation" from Far, Spektor's most recent album, her band left the stage and she moved from piano to keyboard, playing "Dance Anthem of the 80s."
Then she took a stint on the microphone a capella before moving on to a turquoise electric guitar for crowd-fave "That Time," then heading back to piano for the gorgeous ballads like "Human of the Year." and "Man of a Thousand Faces."
While it never overpowered Spektor and her voice as the focus, the lighting was expertly done in a static set. Blue waves framed the stage for the beachy "Folding Chair," while an ominous red background appeared during "Aprés Moi," setting a nice contrast for "Man of a Thousand Faces" and the encore's "Samson."
Under a lone spotlight, Spektor looked ethereal and stripped down, though she had occupied the stage alone for half her set.
Overall its was a simple, true-to-form performance—unconcerned with making small talk with the audience, Spektor hit all the high notes (literally and figuratively) and left the crowd wanting more.
