Concert Review: Ingrid Michaelson, Alternate Routes, Storyman @ The Danforth Music Hall

By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –

Ingrid Michaelson.

The best shows are the ones where the artist and the audience engage with one another; the atmosphere instantly becomes more comfortable and fans experience the artist in a more personable manner. Such was the case last night for the fans of indie-pop singer Ingrid Michaelson during her Lights Out tour stop at the Danforth Music Hall.

After opening her performance with “Home”, from her new album, Lights Out, the album cover projected against a warm blue backdrop, Michaelson spoke candidly about the start of the tour.  “I still have some jitters. I think it’s a good thing to have some jitters. We’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll…” she repeated in an increasingly rapid and high-pitched tone before launching into fan-favourite “Soldier”. Any nerves Michaelson may have had were not apparent as her flawless ninety-minute set invoked the from the intimate familiarity and warmth of her six studio albums.

On new material, grand pop arrangements supplemented Michaelson’s far-reaching vocal talents. A full back-up band elevated these anthemic moments, especially on the jazz-influenced “Time Machine”, pop-rock tune “Warpath”, and the cheery lead single, “Girls Chase Boys”, to which the audience delivered the largest response. This is symptomatic of a local fanbase still discovering Lights Out, but almost assuredly the new material will endear itself to her audiences as the tour progresses. Ever the veteran, Michaelson went undeterred by the challenge of converting new fans, as she complimented the audience,“I like Canadians. You’ve got better bacon. You’ve got friendlier people.”

The crowd was open-minded to some of Michaelson’s latest creative forays, which included a lovely rendition of the romantic “You Got Me” with the evening’s opener, Storyman. Michaelson explained in a nasal-ladentimbre that the song was originally featured on Storyman’s album, but she loved it so much that she asked if she could repurpose it for Lights Out. Michaelson also remixed her own material, offering a polka-inspired take on her popular song “You And I” from her album Be OK. “Fans get really weird when artists change their music a little bit,” said Michaelson, but the crowd met the quirky version of the classic tune with a lot of enthusiasm.

Michaelson’s choices for the evening were even more daring considering the dedication of longtime devotees who cherish her older material; the messages, subject matter and sounds proving to be timeless. When she shared an anecdote about a reviewer who complained that her new album had no ballads, a fan yelled out profanities in protest. “Yeah, fuck that douchebag!” Michaelson agreed joyfully, before adding, “This is probably the angriest that anyone has ever gotten at an Ingrid Michaelson concert.” While many who attended last night’s performance likely grew up with Michaelson’s music during her twelve-year career, many fans likely discovered the New York-native through television. At the outset of “Keep Breathing”, which garnered attention as the closing song on a season finale of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, many younger fans squealed in excitement. It was pleasantly surprising that barely anyone lifted their cell phones to capture the moment. They were more interested in experiencing it.

An Ingrid Michaelson performance comes down to the performer – her theatricality and sense of humor breathe life into soft-pop music that could simply reside as an emotive soundtrack for many. Michaelson’s  incredible depth of human spirit gave songs like “Breakable”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and “Be OK” more character than one may realize when listening at home. By the time the encore came around, including “Fire”, “Maybe” spliced with “Everybody”, and “Afterlife”, the performance had surely instilled an eagerness in her new fans for her next show, if only to get better acquainted with the person whose music feels as if she’s known them well-enough already.

The evening’s openers, the Alternate Routes and Storyman, each brought their acoustically-driven sounds to a packed-house. A highlight of thee Alternate Routes’ near-half hour set sparked excitement for what was to come with an early appearance by Ingrid Michaelson on their song, “Nothing More”. Irish duo Storyman shortly followed The Alternate Routes, one man short. Singer Mike Lynch explained that bandmate Kevin was unable to make it past border security, but one of Ingrid’s band members and Storyman producer, Chris Kuffner, supported them on this evening. Although many of Storyman’s songs have a lot more texture on the album, the acoustic versions won over a few audience members, especially songs like “Coming Home” and “Cherry Red” from their most recent album, This Time Round.