Last night, went to see Lisa Marie Presley and her band perform at the Natick Center for the Arts. Parked in front of the converted firehouse were two huge trailers with Tennessee plates so I knew she had arrived. Lisa Marie lost her voice the night before but that didn't faze her rocking performance. From time to time, she needed to inhale mentholated warm water for her sinuses and wipe her face with a black towel. She and the band were all dressed in black. Three of the five band mates adorned black top hats. The mad hatter with feathers in his cap and a black topcoat ala Alice in Wonderland turned out to be her musical producer/husband Michael Lockwood (and father of their twin daughters). The drummer was originally from Boston.
A doll on the piano, a snoopy dog close to the microphone and a Hello Kitty joined onstage too (likely good luck tokens from the twins). Lisa Marie had her mother's beauty and her father's voice. Even the "Thank You" after each song, she just forgot the "Kindly" at the end that her famous king of a father said after all of his songs.
Lisa Marie claimed her songs have always been about the same things -- "angry and sad and sad and angry" -- I wondered why such a talented singer and songwriter with fame, fortune, four children and the daughter of Elvis Presley would be so troubled emotionally...the reasons become apparent in her songs -- each deliberate word written, sung from the soul.
LMP stamped equipment & musical instruments at the show:
From Wikipedia
Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. She is the only child of singer/actor
Elvis Presley.
As sole heir to Elvis' estate, Presley is the owner of
Graceland, the
Memphis mansion where her father lived, now a major tourist attraction. She has conducted a long career in the music business and has issued several albums and videos. Her work as vocalist and lyricist has ranged across country, blues and folk.
Taken as a whole, Storm & Grace is a unflinchingly honest piece of work from this songwriter, who, though known for her tough frankness, has managed to create a tender, consoling thread that runs throughout the album. "Weary" may concern a relationship that didn't work out, but it is suffused with a genuine warmth, as Presley sings: "I will always love you/you can move on, dear."
For Presley, the album's conciliatory theme grew out of wanting to have peace in her life after a period of turmoil and letting go of what no longer suited her. "There were a few years there where everything around me had fallen apart," she says. "All the things that had become my foundation were gone and I had to shed a lot of skin. I found myself really vulnerable afterward and that's what birthed the album's vibe. It's me without any attitude or anger at a time of rediscovery."
The Center for the Arts in Natick, MA ...early Monday morning on January 13, 1874, 10 years after the Civil War...this fateful morning before sunrise, Natick's worst tragedy was about to unfold with a devastating fire.
And many years later, after a $2.2M restoration where horses once lived and drove the firemen, a center for the arts now lives.
The venue today: great seats from anywhere, exposed brick, intimate lighting, amazing sound system!
Lisa Marie Presley was in the building! And so, Elvis lives on...
