Shorefire sent the writer for Muruch.com out to Mountain Stage last week to cover Joan’s performance. Read her review below:

Text:
“Though I loved Yamagata’s music before and certainly after the show, I was mostly excited to see Joan Osborne. I’ve been a fan of Osborne since her debut Relish was first released, and I saw her perform at Mountain Stage years ago when she was promoting her How Sweet It Is album. I remembered Joan’s appearance and performance then as being funky, sexy, and vocally powerful. So it was a bit of a shock when she stepped on stage last night dressed as a school marm – high lace color, long floral print skirt. I only mention it because it was apparently symptomatic of her entire persona mellowing out over the years. Granted, she began with my least favorite song on Little Wild One (“Rodeo”) followed by an even lower key version of the album’s title track. So it may have merely been a matter of song choice or at least my own preconceptions of those particular songs. It just seemed like the spark had gone out of her or something. That is, until she hit the chorus of “Halllelujah In The City” and finally unleashed her voice. Then I finally heard and saw the Joan I knew and loved.

By the time she covered Jump Little Children’s “Cathedrals”, all was right with the Osborne world. In my review of Joan’s album, I said “I hope I get to hear Joan sing this one live someday, because I can only imagine how much more powerful her voice will be without so much production smoothing it down.” I was absolutely right. When singing “Cathedrals” in person, Joan’s voice was gorgeous, emotive, and supernaturally strong. It was by far the best performance of the night, and what I’ll remember most about the concert. She ended with a rousing rendition of “Bury Me On The Battery”, followed by an encore of “To The One I Love”.

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