It didn’t take much for San Francisco singer Jessica Pratt to take hold of the tiny, but packed space at Union Pool, which serves up the perfect setting for fragile folk performers such as Pratt. Her sophomore album On Your Own Love Again was released just this January by Drag City, a stunning record from start to finish. She brought the album to life with the same sincerity, captivating the room entirely, leaving us in breathless awe.
After a wonderful opening set from Brooklyn resident Jaye Baartell, Pratt took the stage accompanied only by guitarist Cyrus Gengras. She opened with the new records’ “Wrong Hand,” and her set consisted of almost all new album cuts, such as the enchanting “Back, Baby.” She also included “Night Faces” from her 2012 debut album, along with a lovely unreleased song called “Central Park,” that needs to be released immediately.
Pratt had complete control over the room, putting us all in a locked dream-like trance. Credit to the lovely group of people who made up the crowd, as they were quiet and attentive, only using their phones for the occasional picture. Pratt mostly kept to her songs, but was funny when she did engage in between song banter, such as her observing how the venue’s Ritchie Valens painting actually looked more like Kurt Russell.
Her almost too brief 11-song set spanned about 45-minutes, but with a lovely 2-song encore that saw Pratt perform solo, she swept us off our feet one more time, leaving us all enchanted by her supreme talent. It was my first time seeing Pratt play live, but it most certainly won’t be the last.
Setlist:
1. Wrong Hand
2. Central Park
3. Night Faces
4. Game That I Play
5. Greycedes
6. Moon Dude
7. Strange Melody
8. Back, Baby
9. On Your Own Love Again
Encore:
10. Titles Under Pressure (solo)
11. Fortuna (solo)
Jaye Bartell:
Jessica Pratt:
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