Regina Spektor shines solo at College Street (pics, setlist, review)
Regina Spektor wrapped up her Remember Us to Life tour at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, on Sunday, November 19th, to a sold out crowd. Spektor and her full band had performed at the venue earlier on the tour but she brought the run to the end with solo performances, which found her alternating between her grand piano, keyboard, guitar, the lid of the grand piano as percussion for one song, and wooden chair (for percussion or just because “I like to hit shit” as Spektor said).
Seated in the fog, Spektor told the audience it was like she was in a “magical fairyland when all the fog is here,” before noting that it smells like “cotton candy” and is “probably toxic.” Other moments in the intimate show were more serious though as Spektor, who came to the US as an immigrant and refugee, noted an experience she had before becoming a citizen. She was asked if she would fight for this country. She encouraged the audience to fight for it with “love, tolerance and good fucking vibes.”
Spektor’s performance was otherwise masterful and lovely and her rich, quirky songs soared above the seated audience. Her set included “Loveology,” “Better,” and “Uh-Merica” on which she asked for a little audience participation and “Reginasaraus”, which tickled the audience. For her encore, Spektor invited out Jack Dishel for a tribute to Tom Petty (“Yer So Bad”) and “Hotel Song” before wrapping it up with fan favorite “Samson.”
Check out photos from the show as well as some illustrations by Sarah Schechter in the gallery above and the setlist below.
Setlist:
Folding Chair
The One Who Stayed and the One Who Left
Grand Hotel
Prisoners
Loveology
Left Hand Song
Pound of Flesh
Better
Poor Little Rich Boy
Uh-Merica
Ballad of a Politician
Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)
Bobbing for Apples
That Time
Black and White
Music Box
Après Moi
Obsolete
Reginasaurus
My Man
Flyin’
Ode to Divorce
Eet
On the Radio
Us
[encore break]
Yer So Bad (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
Hotel Song
Samson
