Suzanne Vega made a strong return to Northampton Saturday at the Iron Horse Music Hall
Suzanne VegaNORTHAMPTON – When Suzanne Vega first started performing more than 30 years ago, The Iron Horse Music Hall was a regular stop on her tours through New England.
She’s gone through highs and lows in the years since, had a handful of hits, written a book, had a Broadway play and through it all, those adoring local fans have not forgotten her.
Vega played to a standing room only crowd at the Horse Saturday, showing off the crystalline voice, literate songwriting and hushed but humorous compositions that have been her calling card.
Together with the extraordinary electric guitarist, Gerry Leonard, Vega played acoustic and did a career-spanning 90-minute set. Vega has been busy working on the four-volume “Close-Up,” a series of her songs re-arranged and thematically assembled.
Starting with the poetic beauty of “Marlene on the Wall,” she smoothly segued into “Small Blue Thing,” noting for the crowd that the song was one of her love songs, “But not the kind of Barry Manilow song.”
One thing that has changed with Vega through time is she is much funnier now, punctuating her songs with fairly lengthy intros, some of them amusing, and some just bringing the material more clarity.
Not all the songs were culled from the catalog. One of the better new ones is “Frank and Ava,” about Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner and showing the potential of a future classic. So too did “New York is My Destination.”
The set built impressively from there on out with highlights including “Ann Marie,” another portrait of a writer, “Harper Lee,” and “Tombstone.” The latter was introduced by a very funny, black bit of humor about the recent death of her 18-year-old cat and her mother’s reaction of what to do with the deceased feline. It’s the kind of song Vega never would have written in the old days, but fits her persona perfectly.
Through it all, Leonard was amazing whether coloring the backdrop of “Blood Makes Noise,” or utilizing his foot pedals for organ and church sounds in a refurbished “Tom’s Diner.”
Among later set standout Vega’s huge late 1980’s hit about child abuse, “Luka,” was given a faithful reading as was a mighty “In Liverpool.” “Calypso” – again featuring beautiful guitar – and the finale “Rosemary,” also shined.