Indie princess Feist performed at the Academy of Music on Sunday night to a very diverse and somewhat confused crowd. Audience members ranged from eye-liner wearing 80s punk rock hangovers to bald 50-somethings in creased slacks. The crowd was united, however, by a love for quirky Feist.
Feist's opening act was Hayden, an awkward-is-awesome Canadian singer/songwriter. Although the crowd was very polite and encouraging, Hayden didn't seem to understand the number rule of opening acts - keep it short. He played for over an hour, filling the space between his songs with long, though mildly entertaining, antecdotes. As a lone man with an acoustic guitar it was tough for him to adjust to the expansive space of the Academy, and the end of his set began to lag.
Feist, with her full band, looked less lonely on stage. She utilized unusual visuals to make the show unique to her. She first appeared on stage behind a lit silk screen, so that only her silhouette was visible, and also returned behind the screen later in the show. Throughout her performance there were also artists onstage orchestrating a vintage-style projection show, which depicted birds, flowers, and hands engaging in various tasks to accompany Feist's lyrics. Dressed in head to toes white, Feist resembled nothing more than a precocious mod fairy as she flitted about the stage.
Although less so than Hayden, Feist also struggled with the space of the Academy. She specifically requested to perform there because she fell in love with the venue after opening there for Bright Eyes, but it did not seem suited to her style. She performed best on her more upbeat songs, like "My Moon My Man" and the popular "1234," when she made use of the stage and engaged the audience more. Feist did her best to reach her whole audience - even invoking each balcony to sing a different note, creating a venue-wide harmony. With the majority of her mellow numbers, however, she seemed to be drowning in the space. Feist's style is much better suited to an intimate space. Next time she visits Philly I'd much prefer to see her at the Tin Angel, or at least the Perelman Theater.
