Matt Sweeney, Joan As Police Woman, y Walter Schreifels

Wow! Just Wow!
I came to the concert with no expectations. I had heard the latest album and liked it, and when the gig was announced at "Gorilla" (a venue I'd never been too) it was too good an opportunity to miss.
Joan Wasser has an amazing voice bringing both power and vulnerability to her songs backed by tight and talented band. Her hour and half set played songs from across her career, many of them new to me, but most of them irresistible. The first 30 minutes the band rattled through many tracks from her last album before moving on to please her long term followers with many earlier tracks.
Through the evening Joan moves fluidly from keyboard, to guitar to violin and back again. Then finally, during the encore, the band go for a Barber shop quartet moment which had the whole crowd smiling and singing along. Fans are adoring and loyal and she interacts with them with the skill and wit of performer comfortable in a live setting. Indeed three songs in she breaks a string and, lacking a guitar tech, a member of the audience steps in to repair it for her.
I've seen a whole host of concerts this year but Joan as Policewoman is one that will live me for a while. I will be ferociously exploring her back catalogue and booking my tickets early when she tours again. As the lady herself declared before her last plaintive song. "Live music is where its at". And with performances like this, who could possibly argue.