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Review: Laurie Anderson Performs “Homeland” at World Cafe Live
Review and photos by Julie Drexler.
This week I had the pleasure of seeing Laurie Anderson – one of America’s most influential and experimental electronic artists – perform music from her new, politically-charged album Homeland at World Live Cafe in Philadelphia.
The atmosphere was intimate with dinner tables lining the lower level of the theater, while blue votives dressed the dark stage creating a dramatic ambiance. Wearing her classic white suit and black tie, Anderson took the stage accompanied by Bill Laswell (bass guitar), and Rob Burger (keyboards, accordion.) The Homeland Trio started their seamless set off with Anderson reciting the piece “The Beginning of Memory“, an ancient story about a time when there was no earth — only air and birds,” disguised in her now trademark sinsiter “audio drag” voice.
Throughout the night, she mesmerized the audience with her animated facial expressions and poetic, electronic-filtered voice. With wry humor, Anderson switched back and forth between her keyboard and electric violin while jabbing at the truth of modern day issues such as BP and the war.
As the set was coming to an end, I could feel the audience drifting into her strange world via the ease of her expert storytelling. The evening concluded with Anderson playing a short but sweet encore solo of “Flow” on the violin.
Overall, it was a powerfully artistic journey reflecting the state of the world, human behavior and technology. Provocative and fascinating, it was a performance I am glad to have witnessed.
You can purchase her new album Homeland from Nonesuch Records.
