Regina Spektor stands alone, effortlessly

I arrived at Regina Spektor’s concert at the Warfield last Sunday, full of excitement and anticipation, spanning back to five months ago when it was announced that due to a bad case of Covid, she would have to cancel several concert dates. This cancellation included the original concert I had been looking forward to attending last October. Never mind though, I was just elated to find out she would be rescheduling her San Francisco concert for March. Besides, I had waited much longer than five months to see her perform.

It was ten years ago, when I was in fifth grade, that my older sister first introduced me to Regina Spektor’s music. Back then, my music taste left something to be desired, and it took me some time admittedly to warm up to the idiosyncratic sound of Regina Spektor’s music. But even back then, I recognized the originality of her music that has distinguished her from other modern, “indie” artists and cemented her place in the industry for the past 20 years.

Spektor got her start in the early 2000’s New York music scene, becoming one of the big names of the anti-folk movement at the time. Beyond anti-folk, her music is also described as falling under the genres of indie-pop and alternative rock. There is just something so uniquely imitable about her sound, ranging from somber ballads and curious musings, and utilizing vocal intonations and syncopations, all alongside her witty, wry lyrics. Everything then comes together with the addition of the piano, a mastery of which Spektor possesses, having been classically trained from a young age. Altogether, Spektor stands alone easily – a one-woman show perfectly capable of captivating her audience for as long as she desires.

And this is exactly what the crowd experienced from her performance on Sunday. She opened her set with the acapella song “Ain’t No Cover,” from her EP Live at Bull Moose (2005).Isolating her voice from all sound was an apt choice, as it put on display the sheer expansiveness and power of her voice. When seeing an artist live, there is always a concern that their vocals might not measure up to how they sound in recordings, but Spektor sounded the same, if not better in person. 

Equally as bewitching as her opening vocals was the rainbow frock she wore – something not just anyone could pull off, but she certainly did. This became a topic of the night, as during a couple songs she had to stop to adjust her sleeves. She explained to the audience, candidly, that she had borrowed it from a friend. In another instance, she played an old song “Prisoner,” preemptively warning she might mess it up as she had only recently started relearning to play it. And she did, but it was moments like these that simply added to Spektor’s unmistakable charm, as she laughed it off. It revealed her to be the personable, warm, down-to-earth talent her fans know her as and love her for.

Of course, Spektor covered her most popular songs. Early on, she played “Folding Chair,” a song which recirculated on TikTok not too long ago for its lyrics embracing body-positivity: “I’ve got a perfect body, though sometimes I forget. I’ve got a perfect body ‘cause my eyelashes catch my sweat.” 

Later on she covered her most notable chart-toppers including “Two Birds,” “Fidelity,” “On the Radio,” and “Eet.” Although each song was exciting to hear, perhaps what stood out most were the lesser-known, newer songs she played. Given this performance was part of the tour for her latest album, “Home, before and after,” she made sure to cover a new spread of songs, beginning with her opening track “Becoming All Alone Again.” Stripped away of all production elements – just Spektor and the piano – this live version of the song successfully conveyed its message earnestly, of tackling loneliness and calling out to God for help to no ultimate avail. 

Although unfamiliar with the other songs she played from “Home, before and after,” I was delighted to hear them nonetheless: “Loveology” (on humanism and love and forgiveness being the solution to all), “Spacetime Fairytale” (on time passing and the lessons one learns), and “What Might Have Happened” (on the juxtaposition of joy and sadness and how they go together). Ultimately an album on humanity – the love and loss inherent in our lives and the lessons learned along the way – Spektor’s creativity continues to shine on through to this album.

Spektor’s creative spark manifested itself not only within her new songs, but the performance of her older songs. A highlight of the night was when she played “Poor Little Rich Boy,” a song from her album Soviet Kitsch (2003)” with one hand on the keyboard and another holding a drumstick that she tapped against a wooden chair. Spektor did all of this while singing both on beat  and in syncopation too. She then went on to play songs with acoustic guitar, before her finale on piano. In an industry where more often than not these days you find artists are unable to play any instruments, her multi-talented musical abilities place her on a different level.

The other stand-out moment of the night was when Spektor played her defiant masterpiece “Après moi,” also from Soviet Kitsch. This song she dedicated to the Ukrainian people, regarding the “mind-numbingly insane invasion of Ukraine that Russia is doing” – as she put it. Beginning in a sort of soft, sweet defiance, “Après moi” then veers into hard-edged belted-out vocals, undoubtedly sending chills down the spines of the audience (it certainly did for me). A song about rebelling against tyranny and oppression at the hands of leaders, and containing the lyrics “I must go on standing / you can’t break that which isn’t yours” –  this was an effective choice on her part. And then, for the cherry on the top, Spektor switches from English to Russian in the third verse of the song. Knowing her background as a Russian-born Jew who was forced to flee anti-Semitism and ended up a refugee in New York at 9 years old, who better than Spektor to impart this message of support?

Spektor wrapped up her performance with an encore, performing one of her other most beloved songs: “Samson.” Enduring demands from the audience, who got a little too rowdy towards the end, she remained a class act and maintained her humor and poise throughout. Before I knew it, the two hour long trance I had ended as she disappeared backstage. And the crowd was left all alone (again) to savor the memories of her spectacular live performance. So, what did her performance this past Sunday prove? Regina Spektor holds up. Not that she needs anyone, at this point, to say so.