Radio Free Upstate

Ever since I first laid on eyes on it since I came to visit my sister in Albany in the early 1990’s, I’ve been utterly fascinated by the Egg Center for the Performing Arts. From its perch overlooking I-787 and the Hudson River from the Empire State Plaza, it’s a structure that’s hard to miss if you visit Downtown Albany (especially since it is near the State Museum, which is one of the required destinations of every school trip to Albany since the Plaza was built). Despite my desire to see a concert there, I was foiled by scheduling and/or poverty whenever an opportunity to attend a concert there arose.

I was finally able to end my streak of bad luck last Friday, when Jen and I went to see county-folk performer Nanci Griffith and her band, the Blue Moon Orchestra, in the Egg’s 450 seat Lewis A. Sawyer Theatre. The theatre (which was about 80% full) has very steep stadium style seating and has a excellent lines of sight from almost every seat. Despite the fact we were in the next to last row, we were probably no more than forty feet from the stage.

As cool as the venue was, it could not compare to the greatness of the performance. I’ve been listening to Nanci Griffith (and her songs as performed by Kathy Mattea and others) since I was pretty young and I have to say that she did not disappoint. While she limited herself to playing guitar on only about half the songs that she played due to a recent surgery (which look to be for carpal tunnel syndrome), her voice is as great as ever, her guitar playing on the songs where she allowed herself to play was polished and rhythmic, and her storyteling between songs was absolutely engaging. Her setlist incorporated songs spanning across her thirty-year-long career, and managed to include a lot of old favorites without coming across as if someone had put a greatest hits CD on a random setting. With the sole exception of one audience member “whispering” loudly during her acapella final number (”Road to Aberdeen”), the audience seemed to be completely engrossed in the performace and applauded long after the final encore.

All in all, it was a fantastic show in a fantastic venue, and I can’t wait to see Nanci Griffith at the Egg again!