STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
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Bob Dylan’s chambermaid
TOM STONE urges you to catch the last dates of a New York singer/songwriter, never afraid to challenge her audiences musically or politically
CONSUMMATE PERFORMER: Suzanne Vega [Pic: Olaf Tausch]
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The bard recalls advice received 50 years ago from his TRB muse, and sorts out appropriate legislation for football club ownership
MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE review Facing War, Kontinental ’25, Bugonia, and Relay
MAYER WAKEFIELD is frustrated by a production of Ibsen’s classic study of an anti-heroine that fails to elucidate her motivations
PETER MASON tunes his ear into the domestic affairs of a Carribbean couple with a troublesome son
Evidence points to a Scottish provenance for the extraordinary Irish illuminated manuscript, the Book of Kells, suggests RACHEL MOSS
Suzanne Vega
Brighton Dome
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
FROM New York City, Suzanne Vega has always exuded an alternative spirit, often subtly channelling Bob Dylan, and sometimes more overtly putting that spirit into song, as in her 1986 single Left of Center. Tonight, we get both – an admission that, yes, that love of Dylan has always been real, plus a reworked rendition of the live favourite.
But before that there’s the brand-new Speakers’ Corner, which must be Vega’s most unambiguous protest song to date – a forceful plea, even in the face of raving maniacs, to protect free speech for all. It’s one of five tracks we get this evening from the critically acclaimed new album Flying With Angels.
The first half of the set is composed entirely of big-hitters from Vega’s extensive back catalogue, with the ever-wry singer explaining that she wants to get some of those vaunted folk-pop classics out of the way, so we don’t start getting nervous halfway through that she won’t play them.
But while these songs are familiar to any fan, tonight every version is new – led as ever by Vega’s acoustic guitar, but this time backed for the most part only by virtuoso guitarist Gerry Leonard. Leonard is capable of creating multitudinous soundscapes with his single electric guitar, making him at times almost like three musicians in one.
Vega’s confidence in the strength of her new songs, saving them for later in the set, is not misplaced. From the new album she brings her Chambermaid. Which, she tells us, she dreamed up one morning when she couldn’t get Dylan’s I Want You out of her head, and began to channel the chambermaid in that song, writing an “answer song” from that character’s perspective and using much of the melodic structure of the original in tribute.
The encore opens with a further echo of Vega’s alternative New York roots – a cover of Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side, and finally the set closes with two further songs from the new album, Alley and Galway, the strength of these proving that Vega remains relevant and never afraid to challenge her audiences, whether that’s musically or politically.
A genius undimmed.
On tour in the UK until November 3. For more information see: suzannevega.com
