Sia gets heckles at First Avenue
On tour to support the 2010 album, We Are Born, Sia left First Avenue on Thursday, July 21st with some heckles. These weren’t ordinary heckles though, these “heckles”, as Sia called them, were die, a drawing of her vagina, a photo of someone’s baby, and a note to give to Muse when she sees “him”. One by one through the course of the night those items ended up in her tights. Yes, you read that right! The Australian pop singer-songwriter apparently has a history of welcoming amusing gifts from the crowd, and she seemed pleased with this night’s taking.
Sia has an amazingly creative and quirky presence reminding me somewhat of Bjork, if Bjork played straight up bone rattling pop. On this night First Avenue was comfortably full of tall white boys and cute girls ready to dance and sing along. Sia took the entirely quilt covered stage in flashy high heels, and a puffed out ruffly dress that made her balance like a weeble wobble. Her set pounded with pop enthusiasm, as the quartet of men playing behind her in striped onesie pajamas hammered on.
The set was highly entertaining and oftentimes humerous. At one point Sia had the band playing an impromptu song titled “Pee on You” that evidently was written by her years ago on a bus. The band at first tried following her, but then ended up going in their own direction with a stripped down slow groove that had the crowd cracking up. Towards the end of the set, Sia mentioned writing a song for Will Smith that got turned down. She then recorded it herself and it ended up on the Twilight movie soundtrack as “My Love”. “Now I’m rich!!!” she exclaimed jokingly. “And now I just wrote some pop songs for some real mothafuckas, and they gonna make me rich!”
After seeing her set, she deserves it.
Opening the night was the gorgeous and supremely talented Danish singer, Nanna Øland Fabricius, who goes by the pseudonym, Oh Land. She was accompanied by stand-up drummer Hans Hvidberg-Hansen and their set was spectacular. Dawning a sheer white gown and a black hat, Oh Land pounded out a smoothly driving set from the start with Hvidberg-Hansen’s scattered drums leading the way. They played experimental electro pop with power and finesse, making many new fans this night including me. I was completely impressed. Check her music out.
Photos taken for music blog, Reviler. Check it out!
Sia
Sia – First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN – 07.21.11 Setlist
The Fight
Buttons
Oh Father
? (new song co-written by Nick Valenti of The Strokes)
Big Girl Little Girl
Cloud
I Go To Sleep
I’m Not Important To You
Pee On You (improv)
Be Good To Me
Taken For Granted
Hurting Me Now
Soon We’ll Be Found
My Love
Never Gonna Leave Me
I’m Inside
Encore:
Clap Your Hands
Breathe Me
Oh Land
Shooting notes: only first song was allowed which limited lens changes.
