Loretta Lynn @ Massey Hall
This show seemed a bit like a steeplechase. There seemed to always be one more obstacle in the way of getting where we wanted to go.
The first obstacle was opener Martha Wainright - she seemed very slightly confused as to why she was there. Early in the show she was clearly nervous, and it took her a few songs to work past that and get comfortable with the show. Between that nervousness, and some tame, coffee house guitar strumming, the first few songs lacked energy. As her set moved on, though, she worked in a few songs that were more powerful and musically interesting, earning a reaction from more than the few hardcore fans that dotted the audience.
A particularly off moment came when she declared that she had brought only her tamest songs for the show, implying that her work was just too risque for Loretta. True, she left Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole off the set list, and that was probably for the best, but a woman who has been in the music business as long as Loretta, a woman who sang Rated X and The Pill, wasn't likely to be shocked by swear words and mild sexual innuendo.
Intermission came next. It was complete with plugging of Loretta's cookbook from the blander of the two Lynn twins, Peggy.
The next obstacle up was a couple of songs by Loretta's band, The Coal Miners. 6 instrumentalists and 3 back-up vocalists, they sang Honk If You Honky Tonk and one other, despite appearances which would suggest they don't Honk, much less Honky Tonk. They're a fine, skilled band, just not very interesting. All the better to not overshadow the star of the show, I suppose.
One more hurdle was a new country interlude featuring Loretta's daughters, Patsy and Peggy, The Lynns. They did a couple of completely predictable "sassy woman" numbers with Nashvillian polish. A fairly witty song from Patsy about mother daughter relationships was marred by Peggy clowning for the audience in between her backing vocals. It's clear that they learned something from their mother - Patsy, especially, has a gift for storytelling - but they're letting somebody shine off all the interesting angles.
Finally, after more than half the show had already passed, Loretta came out blazing in a white, sparkly gown with more fluffs and flounces than a wedding dress. She sang a few of the classics including Hey Loretta, You Ain't Woman Enough and I Wanna be Free, then paused to tell a few stories and ask for requests from the audience. That was set to be the pattern for the evening - she'd sing a song or two, tell a story or two, sing a request or two.
There was such a clamour for Van Lear Rose that she sang it despite not knowing all the words, gamely covering up for the verses she couldn't remember with some dum-de-dums. A medley of One's on the Way and The Pill proved a perfect and amusing combination. Love is the Foundation was an audience pick and provided a nice quiet moment mid-show.
One more of those hurdles was thrown up when she took a break and left us in the only moderately capable hands of her backup singers for two songs. Peaceful, Easy Feeling and Man of Constant Sorrow proved that they aren't the Eagles, never mind Dan Tyminski. They were, fortunately, more able to meet the challenges of duets with Loretta on Portland, Oregon and Feelin's - though it wasn't so much singing with her as staying out of her way while she sang the hell out of those songs.
She closed with a few more classics - Honky Tonk Girl, Don't Come Home a Drinkin', Blue Kentucky Girl and, finally, of course, (despite earlier promises to leave her 'out there crying on the bus') Coal Miner's Daughter.
Without an encore Loretta's portion of her show was just around the hour mark, and a truly electric hour it was. It's just a shame that it needed to be padded out with such mediocre side material.