AJJ New Haven Concert reviews
Spectacular Tori, mediocre crowd.
AJJ did a fantastic job, utilizing the lighting, space, and her superb accompanying string quartet in ways both entertaining and moving. Her energy, dedication to the music, and flair for the dramatic were all on display, and her vocals continue to haunt in profound ways. Songs from "Night of Hunters" sounded brilliant with the 2 violins, viola, and cello, but older songs like "Suede," "Cloud on my Tongue," and "Leather" also benefitted from the classical/pop fusion. While I would have appreciated some of her more whimsical numbers, the pieces never lost their punch. We were also treated to a quartet composition which was magnificent.
The audience was disappointing. It was disrupting and unfortunate to have drinks spilled upon you, to be forced to spend an entire song looking for the cell phone the lady behind you dropped, and to have to get up and down to allow multiple audience members to buy drinks throughout the show. Other gripes were the times during which the audience chose to scream. I would have loved less of it during moments that were to be powerful or poignant. I realize it's difficult to tell whether you're at a pop concert or a classical recital in these cases, so folks can be forgiven, but I would have loved to have heard more AJJ for my money, and less audience.
Overall, the artist gets five stars, her setlist four stars, and the audience two.