IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. Patty Griffin. ATO0017.
WYEP 30th Anniversary Concert. Byham Theater, Pittsburgh PA. May 12, 2004
Four bird-shaped kites, designed and constructed by a French craftsman, float peacefully above the stage. "I'm into kites lately," says singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, on tour in support of her new album, Impossible Dream. Seating herself at a baby grand piano to perform "Kite Song" from the new album, she explains its derivation. She and a friend were walking in her adopted hometown of Austin when they came upon a kite festival. The spectacle of a sky filled with paper and silk of all sizes, shapes and colors, caused her unnamed friend to reflect upon how much simpler and kinder the world would be if all those who are inclined to hatred and violence would literally go fly a kite.
The kite imagery is a logical step in the development of Patty Griffin as an artist. Ever since her 1996 debut, Living With Ghosts, her songs, while alternating among lyrical, introspective and narrative tendencies, have been dominated by images of flight and hope. Skies (both blue and red), clouds (and shrouds), birds and angels make frequent appearances along with roses, kisses, and allusions to various threads of Catholicism. Her latest album and tour take these images and bring them into focus by uniting them into a common theme -- an unquenchable desire to rise above the troubles of the world. Conveniently, Pittsburgh's Byham Theater provides the perfect venue for such a concept. Its domed ceiling is painted sky blue with puffs of clouds scattered about. Cherubs and half-naked maidens, bearing roses and wrapped in brightly colored shrouds, cavort on the dome -- close enough to angels for me. And Patty's voice soars right up there with them.
Appearing on stage with a five piece band, her trademark red hair glowing like embers in the stagelights, she launches into two Gospel-inflected songs from the new album -- the solemn, dirge-like "Standing" and the more upbeat "Love Throw a Line." Musically, both the album and the concert travel, in Patty's words, "all over the map." A stark, chilling, solo acoustic "Cold As It Gets" from the new album lives up to its title despite the warmth of the singer's voice, but is quickly balanced by a full band accompaniment on "Useless Desires" and "Top of the World." "Rowing Song," which Patty introduces as a "sea chanty," even throws a little trumpet into the mix. After leaving the stage to allow Patty to play solo piano on "Kite Song" and the meditative and brilliant "Mother of God," the band returns for a pump-stompin', countrified "When It Don't Come Easy" and an unreleased rocker called "Perfect White Girls" (a subject Patty admittedly knows nothing about).
Though the concert primarily showcases the songs from the new album, some older ones sneak through, as well. A torchy, jazzed-up version of "Go Now" from Flaming Red changes the pace, while the gentle string and accordion sounds perfected on her 2002 album 1000 Kisses ease into crowd favorites "Long Ride Home," "Rain" and "Chief". The concert closes with a sultry Latin "Mil Besos." At times during the show, Patty spreads her arms like wings, kicks up her flaming red heels and twirls and floats around the stage.
This is serious stuff -- a serious artist singing serious songs about serious subjects. But that's not to say that serious can't be fun. There is a lightness that transcends the limitations of gravity. Through the beauty of the music and the power of her voice Patty somehow manages to find it. And therein lies her message.
In a world seemingly bent on tearing itself apart, where we are attacked daily with grotesque images of war, torture and other unnatural disasters, it is perhaps impossible not to dream of something better. At the same time, it is also possible, maybe essential, to hang on to an immutable faith that our only chance to end all this senseless violence is to bombard it with beauty. Patty just wants to remind us to pull our heels out of the mud and blood and footsteps we have worn in the floor, lift our voices in song and reach for the light. There are kites and angels clearing the way.
