Rachael Yamagata loves dwelling in her own sadness. But her love of it doesn’t make it any less real.
She started her show at the Birchmere this Tuesday unaccompanied on piano, and set the tone with the comment: “I’m going to start out with just me, to underscore the fact that I’m all alone in this world.” Everybody laughed, and so did Rachael—but she meant it.
This is what it’s like to experience her music: a comforting blend of heartache and humor. She said she went to a wedding website to get ideas for how to decorate the stage and ordered the rose pedals. “That’s the last time I’ll ever order anything off a wedding site.” Everyone laughed and sympathized and loved her more. There’s something captivating about a person who takes emotion so seriously—however simple and young those emotions may be.
She is gifted at spinning her heartache into music that is clean, simple, and beautiful. For me, this has the unfortunate side-effect of making it safe: the pain is polished and rehearsed. But I think she really feels the things she sings, and all the backup musicians and studio production just serve to soften what is, at its core, real, lasting hurt.
Every song on her first full-length album, Happenstance, is excellent. Even the ones I hated at first (“Under My Skin” and “I Want You”) ripened after several listens. It’s really a gorgeous album.
She alternated between piano and guitar with a five-piece band, and she plugged her new album hard—which, judging from the new songs she played (most of her set), sounds like kind of a bummer. It’s available on October 7th.
Technically, her performance could have been much better. She hit some wrong notes and forgot a few words. But you couldn’t hold it against her because the spirit of the show was fun—and it was obvious that she was having fun. There’s nothing more inviting than watching someone do something they love.
The whole show would’ve been better if she had stayed alone on stage after her first song. Her two unfortunately male backup singers really took the soul out of her music, oohing and whimpering and echoing her weirdly while she spilled her guts all over the crowd. Their harmonies were dissonant with the mood she creates, which is poignant—but funny. She comes across as a good friend who talks about her heartbreak in a self-deprecating way that is totally loveable.
And this is her real strength: she’s overflowing with personality. That’s what comes through in her music, and that’s what people love about her. She was raised for a time in DC, and the whole time throughout the show she was talking to her family members in the crowd. She turned 31 the night of the concert. When a cake emerged from backstage, she called her twin brother Benjamin up to the stage. He hopped up and did a little booty shake with her while the crowd sang the birthday song. It was a surprisingly sweet moment.
The encore summed up the whole show. She received a standing ovation and came back out alone. She thanked her dad for the crowd: “Half the people in this room are related to me or work for him.” Then people started shouting out requests—and she answered every one (except for Chopsticks) by playing the opening chords to the song: “There, that’s I’ll Find a Way. And that’s Letter Read. And that one is Paper Doll…” Just like your best friend, sitting in your living room, listing out the familiar songs you want to hear but that she’s too tired to play.
Finally her grandma made a request, and Rachael responded: “Grandma wants the Reason Why. Grandma gets the Reason Why.” And she played it. This is her strongest song and was by far her strongest performance. Despite having performed it countless times, she sang with real conviction—and I finally caught a glimpse of the beating heart that’s inside her songs, buried under a pile of self-deprecating jokes and extraneous musicians and studio effects. For all the breaking and sadness, her heart is strong.
For those who care, her setlist was:
- Meet Me by the Water
- Collide
- Be Be Your Love
- What if I Leave
- Faster
- Side-dish Friend
- Over and Over
- Hold On
- Elephants
- Worn Me Down
- Sunday Afternoon
- Reason Why (Encore)
