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07 December 2010
Dar Williams has been around for a generation now but the time it takes to pass from one generation to the next seems like an eternity when you first remember her music when you were barely out of school - now the changing nature of both the songs and the audience seem to almost reflect the changing nature of life from adolescence to middle age, whatever that is. Still, it's been an apparent nine years since Williams was last in the country, or at least in this neck of the woods, and while that's a long time to be away, it's accordingly a long time to reflect on, which much of tonight's gig seems to be about. The huddled audience of clearly devoted fans on this bitter November night listen to songs both old and new, and while there's a good cross section of material from her whole career so far, including nods to the more recent americana leanings (she's worked in recent months with Gary Louris among others), it's the early material that really gets people going. Perhaps because it still feels so evocative, both lyrically and musically - even if some of it reflects a youthful innocence it was written within the context of, there's a nostalgia for that innocence of youth which even comes across in the less produced recordings the original songs first found their feet with. Williams has always been an engaging and moving performer, and by the time she reaches a much requested "When I Was a Boy," any doubts that her new family life or sometimes now overslick studio production might have a bearing on the live experience are definitively put to rest. Williams is still yearning to be discovered, and in a live setting is as on top of her game as she's ever been.