November 23rd, ISSA at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Vancouver, Canada

On November 23rd and 24th, singer / songwriter and we might add philosopher, ISSA, who changed her name from Jane Siberry in 2006, returned to the sold out Vancouver East Cultural Centre where she was welcomed warmly by her adoring fans. With ISSA it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the person from the music and vice versa, because the two are very much intertwined. For her fans, it does not seem to matter, as they hang on her every word and her music, which includes elements of jazz, classical, world music, cabaret and is always very Avant-garde.

On this evening, ISSA performed material from the thirty-three songs that she wrote when her European sojourn began in Belgium, during 2006. It was a time for reflection and new direction. Her experiences such as her encounter with a group of teenagers that she befriended in a small English village gave rise to songs such as “Phoenix.” At other times, ISSA shares low-key missives originating within her Bohemian lifestyle.

At first blush, the reader might assume the evening was mired in the melancholic, with heavy music, however that would not be an accurate conclusion, as ISSA demonstrated a gift for addressing serious issues from an often times humorous perspective. She satirized our society’s preoccupation with vegetarian diets, low carbohydrate diets, high protein diets, vegan diets and an endless list of companies marching out the latest diet flavor of the day. In her conversational lyrical style, she put forth a tune that thematically reminds one of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season).”  The singer frets over eating too much, eating too little, not cleansing enough and cleansing too little.

There is a song, “You Had A Good Thing,” in which the artist uses humor to keep her song on a lighter note, while she addresses the darker issue of abusive relationships. There is a poignant line about a woman’s friends commenting on how they had never seen her so alone, “as when she was with you.”  Then humor enters in, when the woman is able to walk away from her abuser and say, “You had a good thing / And you blew it / But when you get right down to it / You couldn’t get down to it.” 

Dressed in a green, knee length, button down velour jacket, worn over a mid calf, turquoise colored dress, with a gold chain mail bracelet, hooked to a ring on her finger, and wearing black zipped boots, ISSA was accompanied by two outstanding musicians, pianist Tim Ray, who also provided backup vocals, and bass guitarist Rich Brown. Both musicians only enhanced an already mystical evening. For a couple of songs, ISSA was joined on stage by a phenomenal young singer/songwriter Adrienne Pierce, who also opened the evening.

The last song of ISSA’s second set was “Remember,” which begins with the singer snoring (buy a ticket for one of her concerts if you want to know why), and to which the audience responded with a boisterous standing ovation. 

ISSA returned to the stage for two encores, “When We Are Queen,” a song about a time far less complicated than today, some might say with less emphasis on the material and more on humanity. Her final song of the evening was a beautiful ballad, inspired by the true-life story of a mother who is a cancer survivor.

It is difficult to review an ISSA concert, because you are not reviewing the music, as much as you are breathing in the experience and listening quietly to a sage, so we will simply say thank you.

Reviewed by Joe Montague for Riveting Riffs (www.rivetingriffs.com)

Reviewed November 23rd, 2007

Riveting Riffs wishes to thank the management of the Vancouver East Cultural Centre for making it possible for Riveting Riffs to review this concert

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