Renata Zeiguer at The Crystal Ballroom, 3/11
The circumstances in which I arrived at Renata Zeiguer’s set were, to put it bluntly, less than ideal. Renata opened for Summer Salt at the Crystal Ballroom on Friday, March 11th but I mixed up the date of the concert in my schedule, which meant I had to run from the Mexican restaurant near the Tufts campus – shoutout to Picante – to my friend’s house to pick up the camera, then run to the nearby bus stop so I could get to the Crystal Ballroom, then stand in a line to get into the venue. It was only once I had crossed into the threshold that I allowed myself to relax. I listened to the last half of Kate Stephenson’s set while catching my breath, and by the time Renata took the stage, I was equipped, focused, and ready to see what she was going to offer.
I’m going to take a second to be very blunt here: I love Renata Zeiguer, and this review is going to be very biased because of that. I’m not exactly sure how I stumbled upon her debut album Old Ghost, but I am eternally grateful that I did; her music was a balm for me back when I was in high school, still trying to figure out the person I was going to become while simultaneously reckoning with my past. My expectations were therefore already pretty high for this set, and I am happy to report back that she not only met my expectations, but she met them solo: just her, an electric guitar, and some pre-recorded beats on a loop pedal.
From the moment she started singing the opening lines of ‘Bug’, I was captivated. Renata has one of those voices that leaps and soars effortlessly over a song, hitting high notes with relative ease and grace. With just an electric guitar backing her, this made her voice stand out even more and made the whole act even more impressive. She even hit the high note in the bridge of ‘Wayside’ not once, but at least two to three times, which drew a lot of deserved applause and whoops from the crowd. She also played some new cuts from her forthcoming album; Picnic In The Dark, out April 8th. The title track was a standout, as well as a track titled ‘Alone With Someone Else’ which – in the best way possible – reminded me of a spider climbing down a strand of web with its high, twinkling guitar notes.
Although she only performed 30 minutes worth of songs, I got the opportunity to talk with her after her set at the merch table, and when I say that she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, I’m not exaggerating. We traded music and book recs (Jorge Luis Borges for Jake Skeets, Tōth for The Avalanches), talked about pursuing our passions as artists, and she even tried to sell me an Old Ghost vinyl for half off (I refused her offer, but she threw in a pack of postcards regardless).
As I flipped through some of the postcards while walking back to my dorm (which features various stylized pictures along with lyrics from the new songs on Picnic In The Dark), I found myself thinking back on the night. Here, I had met one of my most personally significant artists and she had given me stuff for free (stuff not out to the general public, mind you). Even though her set was short, I knew that I would not be forgetting this night. Picnic In The Dark comes out on April 8th, and judging by her set, it’s going to be a good one. I can only imagine what phase of my life is going to be soundtracked to her new songs; and personally, I can’t wait to find out.
