Jay Brannan w/ Chris Pureka @ Highline Ballroom
July 21st, 2008 - by Linda
I guess I’ve been living under a short bus, because I didn’t discover Jay Brannan until Wednesday night when I saw him at the Highline Ballroom with Chris Pureka (who I assumed was male when I saw her name on the ticket). In case you’re wondering what kind of music they play, Pureka gave a better description than I could when she said, “Jay Brannan and I are pretty similar. His songs are sad and depressing wrapped in joy and my songs are sad and depressing wrapped in sad and depressing.”*
It was my first time at the Highline Ballroom, a mostly seated venue, with some standing room by the bar. Pureka compared it to mystery dinner theatre, which again was a fairly accurate description. I always enjoy sitting at concerts, because that way I can actually see, but the $10 minimum should be stated on the tickets, as other venues do. Not that $10 is so much money, but if you’re not planning on drinking and you already ate dinner, it’s a small annoyance. Overall, though, it was the perfect venue for the show, intimate, yet spacious at the same time.
Pureka looked very young and small when she approached the stage, hunched over her guitar, but when she started singing, she commanded the room. She has a very relaxed staged presence, chatting casually to the audience in between numbers.
I didn’t know who Jay Brannan was until my friend told me about this concert a week ago. She told me I’d love him. When he walked out in an I Heart (actual heart, not the word) Guacamole shirt, I knew she was right. During the show, I became a total Jay Brannan fan, although I get the feeling most of the audience in the club already were. Brannan kept talking about how everyone had heard his stories before because he’s played in New York so many times. This wasn’t arrogance on his part. Most of the audience did seem to be repeat offenders, but I didn’t feel alienated. He told enough stories that I didn’t feel cheated. Not only does he have a beautiful falsetto voice and well-crafted songs, but the guy is hilarious, and pretty to look at. His asides were as entertaining as the music itself, but I won’t write those here, as he seems worried about running out of material.
He started the set accompanied by a cellist and violinist (unfortunately I didn’t have pen and paper to write their names down), then played solo, then brought them back out. He even asked for audience participation in the form of clanking glasses during “At First Sight.” Most were happy to participate, some a little too enthusiastic by trying to play throughout the song rather than just the chorus.
Jay Brannan “goddamned”
[audio:http://www.52shows.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/goddamned-explicit.mp3]
