Priscilla Ahn Show Includes Quirky Instruments, Quirkier Stories
August 1, 2008 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
With a glass of red wine in one hand and guitar in the other, Priscilla Ahn had the audience at Maxwell’s laughing along during each song introduction Friday night. Whether it was explaining uncomfortable social situations at L.A. house parties in “Wallflower” or prefacing “The Boob Song” by telling the audience, “It’s not about my boobs, don’t worry; it’s about another girl’s boobs,” Priscilla’s hilarious onstage banter heightened curiosity throughout her mellow and relaxing set.
The night included many songs from Priscilla’s recent debut album, A Good Day, as well as a solid cover of Willie Nelson’s “Opportunity to Cry” and some unreleased material. Strong instrumental accompaniment never overpowered her soft, angelic vocals, and at times she even harmonized with herself with the help of a loop pedal. Priscilla’s band was made up of cellist Oli Kraus and bass player Gus Seyfrett, better known as Willoughby, who opened the show, as well as herself on guitar, harmonica, ukulele and kazoo.
Having just over an hour set, Priscilla started off the night with stand-out track “Dream,” which has garnered much attention from being featured on the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy.” It only makes sense that many of her songs were linked to nature, since she grew up in rural Pennsylvania. She even told the crowd, “It’s always been a dream of mine to live in a tree. I always thought it’d be cool. Some people do it, and that’s cool.” Ahn then segued into the song “Living in a Tree.”
Ahn’s voice is so captivating, it felt as if she were singing a lullaby to the room during her slower songs. The crowd was so still and mesmerized that at times the only sound heard besides the musicians was the click of cameras capturing her performance. While some songs were pretty mellow, others, such as “I Don’t Think So,” were a bit more edgy, with Priscilla referring to it as her “sassy” song with deeper and darker vocals and a fitting harmonica feature.
On “Astronaut,” a song with musical accompaniment reminiscent of a carnival, she sang, “The fish in the sea have many things to tell me/ Well what could they be?/ I’ll never know/ I had to go/ Because I don’t associate with fish.” Laughter quickly filled the room.
The last song of her set was the low-key “Find My Way Back Home” featuring Ahn on ukulele. It sounded somewhat like a Hawaiian luau mixed with Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” and it ended the night on a high note. With Ahn soon to be joining Willie Nelson on his tour, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit.
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