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‘Moore’ than she used to be
Former pop superstar wins over fans with fresh, new sound
By Matthew Gillespie
She got the crowd of 200 to their feet to close the song and teased, “Come on, dance! Tomorrow is Monday, and you all will have to go back to work!”
“Oh my goodness, I feel like such a bad role model right now!” cried out Mandy Moore at the PABST Theatre this past Sunday night. “I am not condoning anyone to get a tattoo, but the band and I are getting one because we wrote this new song together.”
Moore, the 23-year-old folk/pop singer, performed for a crowd of 200 fans at the Pabst Theater Sept. 30, playing songs off her new album, “Wild Hope.”
Throughout the night, the singer couldn’t help but comment on how rowdy the crowd was, “My goodness, Milwaukeeans are rowdy! Thank you, thank you!”
Moore opened her set with “‘Slummin’ in Paradise,” backed by her energetic house band. Though the five-member band looked like a mix of geeks and long-haired Emo wannabes, their sound was very impressive.
Moore went on to play the guitar for a song she wrote about herself, “Can’t You Just Adore Her.” “OK, so I just started playing the guitar on tour and I haven’t been very diligent on practicing because well, I like to go shopping,” the beauty queen told the crowd. True to the song, Moore sang out, “She'll cancel all of her appointments. And go shopping instead.”
Throughout her set Moore showed off her playful dance moves and kept her goodie-two-shoe image by flirting and smiling with the crowd.
Speaking of the beautiful Pabst Theatre, Moore informed the crowd, “Did you know that this is the fourth oldest venue in America? I was just standing here today with the band at sound check and was like wow! This is so incredible to be performing here.”
A crazed fan caught Moore off guard when she screamed out a request to the singer. “It’s coming, it’s coming,” Moore replied. “Wow, I’m not used to people shouting out requests, being out on the road for the first time.”
That fan was requesting Moore’s new single, “Nothing That You Are,” which she performed later. “You really like this song?” she asked the fan. “But it’s so dark and angry. I guess that’s what you get for being a mean and a nasty person. A song written about you, like this one.”
Moore lowered her head and sang, “Well I must be mistaken, you for somebody else. I hope you burn in hell, or do I?” She became very angry and emotional during the song and even bolted off the stage. With that, her house band rocked out into the close of the tune.
When she returned moments later, the crowd was silent and the band quietly began “Gardenia”. Moore sung the peaceful ballad strong and used it to exhibit her beautiful vocal range. Moore’s emotions and attachment to the song were beautiful to watch. The singer is a well-established actress, and it showed during her performance.
After “Gardenia” the singer sang her much-talked-about acoustic version of Rihanna’s hit, ‘Umbrella’. Instead of the original’s synthesizer and hip-hop beat, there was Moore’s angelic voice and softly playing band. The rendition was an interesting listen.
To close the concert, Moore made fun of her bubblegum past and shouted, “Let’s go back to 1999! Sing with me, I know you know this song!” With that, Moore went into her former Top 40 hit, “Candy.”
Moore’s band added a folk groove to the song. Moore mocked the dance moves from the music video with her lead guitarist. When it came to the mid-section of the song where she says “Love always, Mandy,” she stopped, saying “Why am I singing this part? It’s so stupid!” She got the crowd of 200 to their feet to close the song and teased, “Come on, dance! Tomorrow is Monday, and you all will have to go back to work!”
As an artist, it seems Moore is coming into her own and finding a wonderful, mature sound to her music. If Moore is to continue in this direction, I think that she will become very successful and be able to collaborate with many well-distinguished folk/pop artists. Just recently, Moore sang a duet with folk/pop singer Ben Lee on his new album, “Ripe”.
Coincidentally, Lee opened Moore’s concert on Sunday night.
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