Pitchfork

When Marissa Nadler looked up from tuning her guitar Wednesday night and politely informed another photographer that she's "very self-conscious," I got to worrying we were in for a repeat of her SXSW showcase flap. Thankfully that wasn't the case at all, although it took Nadler a few songs to settle into what would be a satisfying performance.

Following fine sets from local opener Angel Olsen and Toronto's Picastro, Marissa waltzed "onstage" (i.e., the corner of Ronny's' garage-like music room that's designated as a stage) in a bold red frock. Early in the set, she seemed desperate not to let her nerves get the better of her, hesitantly handling words like "reliquary" and "diadem" as though they were porcelain figurines she was arranging on a mantlepiece. That she looked trapped behind a makeshift fortress of three microphones (each with a different level of reverb) didn't help matters, but Marissa soon found her footing, and even offset her typically woebegone songs with moments of humor. At one point she flipped on a ridiculous-sounding chorus pedal for a few bars, then shyly remarked, "That was a joke!" Later she thanked her audience for being so attentive and condemned the rowdy "cowboys" who had turned up at other stops on this tour.

It's a joy Marissa was able to pull it together this time out, and one hopes she'll continue to do so-- songs as good as those that fill Songs III: Bird on the Water deserve to be heard.

MARISSA NADLER














PICASTRO




Marissa Nadler:

09-07 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
09-08 Buffalo, NY - Soundlab
09-09 Bennington, VT - Bennington College
09-10 Portland, ME - Space Gallery
09-11 Boston, MA - Middle East Club
09-13 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
09-14 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
09-15 Philadelphia, PA - Side Chapel at First Unitarian Church
09-17 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre *
09-18 San Francisco, CA - Warfield *
09-19 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
09-20 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
09-21 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore *
09-24 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
09-25 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre *
09-28 Helsinki, Finland - Linja
09-29 Tampere, Finland - Klubi
10-01 Gothenburg, Sweden - Nefertiti Jazz Club
10-02 Malmö, Sweden - Debaser
10-03 Oslo, Norway - Café Mono
10-10 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
10-16 New York, NY - The Whitney Museum

* with Peter Bjorn and John, the Clientele