Joanna Newsom played Grand Rapids Michigan w/ Bowerbirds (pics), Town Hall in NYC & DC (listen @ NPR.com)

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

Joanna Newsom in Michigan

"At Town Hall on Thursday night, in a sold-out 90-minute show mostly drawn from her new album, "Have One on Me," (Drag City) she played the harp with precision but always with a little swing and bounce in the picking and damping. (She generates her own bass lines, too.) Her backing quintet had a drummer, Neal Morgan, but almost for color alone; he had far less rhythmic work to do than what she'd assigned to herself. Ryan Francesconi, the electric guitarist/banjoist/player of the Bulgarian tambura and kaval -- and also the arranger of the new album's songs -- came in a distant second for most notes played, but he made them within the tightest parameters." [NY Times]

Joanna Newsom's Thursday show at Town Hall was probably the one NYC show last week that I most wish didn't coincide with SXSW. Luckily NPR is streaming the similar one that happened five nights later (aka last night) in DC (her 2nd night in a row at the same venue). More dates HERE.

The pictures in this post are from the first date of the tour (3/12) at Calvin College in Michigan where Bowerbirds opened. More pictures from that show, videos from Town Hall and the DC setlist below...