Joan Osborne at the Summerstage (NY, NY) 9.29.07

Ninja: Jonathan Daniel

As I walked into Central Park, I was immediately confronted by a crazy man sitting on a bench asking to perform “unbelievable magic” for me.
“Now you see me,” he said before throwing a white towel over his face and screaming “But I disappeared right in front of your fucking eyes!”
I continued walking.
It didn’t take long before I could hear an announcer from the Rumsey Playfield introduce “the Grammy nominated Joan Osborne”, and a mother walking by me pushing a stroller ask her husband, “Who’s Joan Osborne?” To be honest, despite the twelve years since her first major label album release, and eight releases since, my only memories of her music include a couple of Dead shows and flipping through the radio presets in my mother’s car, catching part of “One of Us” on Z100.
I couldn’t afford admission into the show (ah, the life of a twenty-something New Yorker), so I found a perch outside the venue against an old oak tree (or spruce, or pine, or whatever it was) close enough to hear the music, as was a common practice of mine this summer. That’s a big perk of Rumsey Playfield (more commonly known as the Summerstage) – even if you can’t get into the actual venue, you can still hear the concert from a good distance away. And, on a beautiful day like this one, it’s that much more enjoyable.
It was a cloudless, almost-autumn day as her voice beautifully belted over an almost country-ballad version of the old Marvin Gaye hit “How Sweet It Is” to open up her set. Though she’s been compared to such musicians as Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlin, her voice is also reminiscent of an old Southern Gospel singer, and it fits well over the warm tone of an electric guitar and powerful, driving bass.
Though they only had about an hour to play, the band switched it up quite a bit between straight ahead rock, blues, and country. They were tight and followed each other well – each member getting their own chance to shine at one point or another. Joan’s (may I call you Joan?) powerful yet smooth voice is reminiscent of so many old soul and jazz singers, and it shined on every song, regardless of the genre. She certainly stands center stage here.
Of her ten-song set, the most recognizable were “How Sweet It Is” and her nineties near-chart-topping hit “One of Us” (it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100), the latter of which she chose to play one song prior to the closer. When the guitarist strummed that oh, so nostalgic melody, it brought me immediately back to fifth grade. The tune, though, was slightly altered from the MTV version, taking on a less poppy, more subdued (and, if I do say so myself, much more enjoyable) sound. I’m sure the audience was singing along inside.
To close her set, in true Rock AND Roll fashion, the last song was an upbeat, fast paced rocker designed to let the fans leave happy. After that old classic build up and crash down ending, the band left the stage for only one or two minutes before coming back to play an encore. I walked away from the Rumsey Playfield, toward Sheep’s Meadow to toss a Frisbee, singing along with Joan to “Proud Mary”, that classic Creedence tune. Cliché, yes, but nevertheless, I was refreshed.