Rachael Yamagata Brings Personality and Smooth Songs to Boston

Adam Reynoso ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Rachael yamagata
Adam Reynoso / Emertainment Monthly

How a musician interacts with the crowd can be a huge factor in how well a show can go over. It’s easy to focus solely on the performance and stage presence and forget that the audience is there because they know your work and want to experience this artist live. Rachael Yamagata accomplished in not only bringing talent to the stage, but also really showing she cares about those who come out to her shows by constantly taking the time to talk with the concertgoers instead of just at them.

What instantly shined in her show is her personality. Yamagata knows her genre and that she has a lot of songs dealing with either love or heartbreak or anything in between. She makes it a point to even talk about how the next song wasn’t supposed to be depressing, but it rightfully was and she owns it. It’s easy to get pigeonholed into one genre and constantly try to not let that define an artist, but Yamagata shows her passion for the music she makes. As a result, her performance radiated beauty and tenderness, something that fell over the venue almost instantly.

She transitioned between the keyboards and her guitar effortlessly and it’s really impressive how much talent the artist has. Going hand in hand with each instrument, her voice sounded exactly like her album work, if not better. The difference is the how the power of the words are conveyed through her performance. The songs she coos out show the meaning behind the emotions behind each track.

While none of her songs are exactly the dancing, high-speed type, she still has a way to evoke a lively presence on stage, as well as energetic responses from the crowd. While the venue, Brighton Music Hall, is one of the smaller places in Boston, she still manages to pack the spot back to the bar and entrance. And it was clear by the first song just how engaged and entranced the audience was. Yamagata has a way of really captivating the audience, and perhaps it has to do with the amount of heart she puts into her work. Then again, it could be how real she approachable she comes off as she does when she’s laughing because of an audience member by the stage, constantly making requests and connecting over a bond they shared over a cigarette prior to her performance.

She played a variety of songs from her career, including “Duet,” “Dealbreaker,” “You Won’t Let Me,” and “Be Your Love.” All of the songs elicited excitement from the audience and each performance was electrifying. It was hard not to get swept away from the somber, personal tone of the songs, but at the same time, they were also lively. It goes to show how a performance can shape how a song is taken in.

Already having the talent behind her, Rachael Yamagata also shows her devotion to her fans in her concert. She brings the energy to songs that are already beautifully sad in nature, and it was a feat not usually seen. It made her lively songs like “I Want You” pop even more. As a performer, Yamagata has shown that she has an immense strength that can only mean good things for the remainder of her tour.

 

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