For any upcoming musician it's both a great feeling and a nervous feeling to walk into the bar you’re playing and see a packed room for the opening act. The question then is will the crowd stick around for your set or will it be another gig playing to friends and empty chairs. And like most gigs in Los Angeles, the opening act’s crowd didn't stick around. However, turns out Simon has a following of her own, and as soon as a seat at the M Bar was vacated someone else was Johnny-on-the-spot to snatch it up, giving Simon herself a full and rapt room to play to.
On this night Simon performed an acoustic set. Pulling triple duty as a singer, guitarist, and piano player, she was accompanied on stage by another guitarist, a bass player, and a percussionist. In all three areas, Simon exhibited confident musicianship and ability. Most striking throughout though was Simon's vocal ability, which was astounding, hitting every note superbly. Simon's voice is powerful (3.5 octaves worth), with depth ranging from medium raspy, to somewhat soulful, to a bit popish. Her vocal control and facility, expressiveness, and sense of timing are striking.
With every performance there is a yin and a yang. Musically Simon's vocal chops reflect a strong "yang" energy, but it's the song writing and crowd interaction between songs that provide the "yin" side. The between song banter for the 9 song set, though sincere and honest, felt tight and limited, imparting just the basic information (song creation, theme, or thought), and it wasn't until late in the set that she made a personal connection with a friend (a former classmate) in the audience as it related to a particular song. Glimpses of an appealing persona could be seen, and I suspect that with maturity and more experience she’ll grow more comfortable and confident in relating to the audience and revealing more of herself outside of her songs, as she does within them. As for the song writing, the one, and key, aspect missing was a solid “stick in your head" song. The songs "Insatiable" and "Gone with the Angels" are noteworthy not only because she performs these while playing the piano, but because in these songs Simon delivers intense and moving emotions, but there wasn't that "one" song that got your toes tapping and had you singing the chorus while waiting at the valet for your car later.
What Simon does have as a musician is potential, lots of potential, and vocally she is an amazing talent. Keeping in mind that this performance was a singer/songwriter format, which may vary from Simon's usual musical approach plugged in to amps, it's easy to throw darts at a few things needing some more refinement. But Simon’s most striking asset is clearly her amazing vocal ability, which should put her a leg up on most of what I see around town.
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