Nellie McKay: Nice Try, ’60s
Nellie McKay
Nice Try, ’60s
54 Below, NYC, April 16, 2015
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Going to see Nellie McKay, you never know what to expect. Her unique sound works so well in many different genres. In her current incarnation, she has transformed herself into a very pretty mid-sixties flower child. Nice Try ’60s gives her the opportunity not only to show off her voice, but also her remarkable skills on piano, ukulele, harmonica, organ and tambourine. Mixing popular and obscure ’60s songs with more recent material fitting the theme, McKay entertainingly evokes the most tumultuous era of my lifetime.
She opened with Country Joe McDonald’s tribute to his girlfriend Janis Joplin, “Janis,” followed by a cheerful “Hello, Hello.” Getting up from the piano, and accompanying herself on harmonica, she let herself go with “Red Rubber Ball.” With the help of her ukulele, McKay hilariously performed Bob Dylan’s “Clothesline Saga.” “Compared to What” featured a driving drum solo by Kenneth Salters. McKay displayed a touching soft side with The Beatles’ “If I Fell.” The finale, a rousing “Murder in My Heart for the Judge,” was followed by a two-song encore of her own compositions— “Inner Peace” and “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”—that ended with a 1960s-type light show showing off her backup group The Cosmic Rays.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
