Viva La Vega!

I went to see folk rock singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega at a local concert here in New Jersey, and I must say, she still has the spark lacking in the live acts of similar performers. Vega, best known for her 1987 Top Five hit "Luka" and her quirky a capella piece "Tom's Diner" (Doo do do da, doo do do da), has obvious roots in folk and knows how to rock but, like Paul Simon before her, doesn't really fit in either category yet knows how to bridge the gap. She performed fine songs like "Gypsy" and "Tired of Sleeping" with only her acoustic guitar, but she was able to offer up some potent industrial rock in "Blood Makes Noise," thanks to her three-piece backing band. Early hits such as "Marlene on the Wall" and "Solitude Standing" still sound as fresh as they did back in the eighties, and Vega still possesses a keen sense of humor, as her banter with the audience proved.

There was a kind of bittersweet feeling in the air, though. Let me explain. When I bought her Solitude Standing LP sixteen years ago, I thought Suzanne Vega was going to be a name to be reckoned with in rock and roll. I assumed that she would lead pop into a revolution against the mindless synthesized dance songs that were gaining in popularity at the time. It didn't happen, largely because Vega's music seemed anachronistic in comparison to the high-tech dance pop that was (and remains) dominant, but also because, at a crucial moment when she needed to put out an album that would outdo Solitude Standing, she cut the soporific Days of Open Hand instead. I thought Vega would pack a Mike Tyson-style punch against the artificially created pop of the late eighties, and she turned out to have a Cicely Tyson-style punch. Vega didn't want to lead that musical revolution anyway; that honor would go to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and even his effort wasn't completely successful. But she remains an artistically relevant performer, and even though she never got to sell out arenas, she still sells out local concert halls. So I guess that's some consolation.

How successful is she at selling out smaller venues? The hall she performed in last night was a Congregationalist church that holds a thousand people. I almost didn't get in - it was practically sold out, and I bought my ticket at the last minute!