Suzanne Vega Performing Luka Live in 1986
Reviewing Lin’s Telling It Like It Is blog and the articles she has in it reminded me of this song, a haunting account of child abuse.
This clip is from a Japanese Laserdisc of her 1986 Royal Albert Hall performance.
I adored Suzanne Vega’s debut album, the one that had this track Luka. Never quite enjoyed her other stuff as much as that, but she’s very talented.
One disappointment though … In the early Eighties I got a bootleg of one of her shows (this was back in the time when bootlegs came on cassette tapes with photocopied covers). Wonderful concert, and I listened to it constantly.
A couple of months later I saw her live, at the tail end of her tour. Not only did she play exactly the same songs as the bootleg; not only did she play them in the same order; she made the same comments, the same jokes, the same “spontaneous asides” … note for note, word for word. Talk about phoning it in!
Hi Pest (that doesn’t sound right, does it
),
It may be surprising but some performers have serious stage fright and make the show as controlled as possible. They have a script to go by while on stage. When something gets screwed up, they’re totally lost.
As for me, when I perform, which has been at most for about 100-200 people, I tend to just wing it beyond a simple set list.
Oh don’t worry, I’ve been called far worse things, particularly by my wife.
That’s a very likely explanation about stage fright. Suzanne Vega has always struck me as very shy and retiring, and I can imagine it’s an effort to get out there in front of a crowd.
BTW, what kind of music do you play?
What kind of music?
Well, if you ask my wife….
There’s a link to some of my recordings on my about page. I mainly play stuff that’s kind of at the intersection of blues, country and rock.
Sounds like just the kind of music I like … I’ll go take a listen. Thanks.