SIA + Har Mar Superstar @ Les Saints

By Abby E. Schachter - The Kids are So-So - 03/04/2008

I will admit that I was not in the greatest mood when I walked into Les Saints for the Sia concert. The crowd was restless after waiting forty-five minutes at the door. I, like many others, was tired, cold and frustrated by how late it was. My impatience was starting to get the best of me and I started to think that the fortune cookie at the end up my meal two hours earlier was going to be the highlight of the night. Luckily that was not the case. The latter half of the night made up for all the time inconveniences, overpriced drinks, lack of seats and forced coat check.

The opening band, Har Mar Superstar, was and is indefinable. The lead singer flung onstage and paraded around topless through the crowd of stunned listeners, all who seemed taken a back at this heavyset forty-something balding man. His voice was smooth and the band emulated a Jackson Five vibe -- he danced, pranced and slid across the stage, all the while never skipping a beat. The audience was in awe at the eccentricity of this overly hyper middle-aged crooner. People laughed when he took of his shirt and announced that he would be covering a Cheetah Girls song and clapped along to the up tempo rhythm.

By the time Sia finally came on, it was ten to eleven and the crowd was displeased, checking watches and cell phones verifying the hour. All of a sudden, cheers and cries of “Sia!” reverberated through the room; I looked onstage and saw a group of people, none who looked remotely like Sia. In fact, the individuals didn’t even look human. They were all dressed up in glow in the dark gingerbread man suits, but then the music started and everyone became quiet. Sia opened with the song “Buttons,” her latest release, and I was in awe of the power of her soulful voice. She kept the mask on throughout the entire first number but it didn’t matter because the song was flawless. Her record does not do her justice and neither do words. Never in my life have I heard a vocalist like Sia. I didn’t even know it was possible that a person could have that many octaves! The crowd was under her spell, moving to the beat and smiling in satisfaction.

This is one concert well worth the wait. Sia wowed everyone with not only her music, but her easygoing, fun nature as well. She humored the audience and interacted with us as though we were old friends, asking if everyone was okay and if oeuvre d’oeufs needed to be served. After every couple of songs, she’d break into anecdotal stories, like the one about her record label dropping her for becoming “too happy.” The Australian artist also played us some “music from the future,” a sneak peak into her newest album hitting stores next year. It was great and different and echoed diffused acid jazz on a pop note. Sia mostly sang songs promoting her latest album, Some People have Real Problems -- “Death by Chocolate,” “Playground,””Little Black Sandals,” and “The Girl you lost to Cocaine” are just a few to mention. I was very disappointed when the time came to go. I didn’t want to leave. Sia’s voice had this way of transporting the listeners to this distant place. She sang with and from her soul and felt every word, beat and note, swaying to the rhythm in a trance-like dance. The audience was hypnotized by this seemingly flighty character and the jazziness of her voice which carried through the venue, smooth and full of power.

If you get the chance to see Sia in concert, go! It is an experience and you will be in awe that someone can sing as amazingly as she does.

Overall here is what my night came to:

1 - Waiting in line for forty-five minutes: Sore feet, bad mood and minor frostbite.

2 - Getting carded at the door: Bad Prom flashback.

3 - Forced coat check: 2$ too much.

4 - Small glass of coke-cola with half a slice of lemon: 4$ plus 2$ tip (overpriced, obviously).

5- Sia in concert: Priceless.

Tune in to The Kids Are So-So with Abby every Tuesday from 2pm - 4pm