by DJ Shove It
Seeing Jessica Pratt live is unreal. Her voice has the same mystic charm that comes through in her recorded work, but with the added splendor of a full stage live set and full band accompanying her. I attended her performance at the darling Bimbo’s 365 Club, a historic SF venue founded in the early 20th century by Italian immigrant Agostino “Bimbo” Giuntoli in San Francisco’s famously Italian North Beach neighborhood. The venue’s vintage charm complements the nostalgic feel that saturates Pratt’s music perfectly.
Her new album, Here in the Pitch, has a fuller sound than her previous works, which strike me as more mellow as a whole. Still, her distinctive and melodic vocals reign throughout the new record and it seems a pretty natural trajectory for her music to evolve to, considering that it’s been about five years since her last album. Naturally, she played some songs from older records, namely Here my Love, This Time Around, Poly Blue, Back, Baby, and On Your Own Love Again as her single encore song.
Pratt’s band consisted of her own vocal and guitar, Judee Sill lookalike Nico Liebman on bass, guitar, & backup vocals, Riley Fleck on percussion, Al Carlson on saxophone, and Pratt’s partner Matt McDermot on keys. I was really impressed by Liebman’s backup vocals, which accompanied Pratt’s distinctive and eccentric vocals perfectly. The whole band came together seamlessly, which is a blessing when you want to experience a real-life indulgence in the sublimity of a favorite musician’s sound.
Her stage presence is subtle, soft, somewhat aloof. The show was beautiful, simple, sentimental. Even the stage-side security guard was bouncing his head along.
Thank you to Pratt’s team for the admission. I’m forever grateful to have seen her live.