It is a good thing I'm not a headline writer because I would probably be fired after day one...or maybe not hired in the first place. Eh, I write for the joy of it anyhow.

So I experience my first real summer show this past Friday at the uber ritzy Ravinia Festival. Even though I never feel like I fit in there (my first encounter consisted of my sister, brother in law and I going and eating our PB&J's and drinking coke while everyone else around us drank $100 bottles of wine) I have always respected what the festival represents. Plus the acoustics in the pavillion are second to none, which is rare for an outdoor venue. I was able to experience one of the best shows of 2007 there last year (Nickel Creek and Fiona Apple) and this year was no different with Leslie Feist's performance.

Feist has received all sorts of critical success following her second release THE REMINDER in 2007 and it was well-deserved. I had also heard a lot from other people and radio station DJ's that she put on a great concert. They were right.

I have to say that the opening act of Juana Molina was slightly underwhelming. I am not sure if was just lack of stage presence or the fact that not a single soul seemed to want to pay any attention to her. That will probably be the case a lot of the time at Ravinia as it seems that a lot of people are there more for the atmosphere vs. the actual artist in residence.

Feist did not disappoint though. She came out in a white cowboy hat and a coat with tassels galore (that almost paints the picture that tassels are a great fashion statement but I have to admit that it is probably harder to pull off than most would think). Her stage presence was quite charasmatic and I was gripped by her from song one. Her band consisted of multiple instrumentalists that obviously were talented. Each played multiple instruments throughout the show (from bells to trumpet to piano and guitar). Additionally, she had a crew of two women with an overhead projector that created interesting shadows and designs behind the stage during the concert. It kind of reminded me of what is sometimes done at prog-rock/ambient type of shows with digital images/videos that blend with the development and ebb and flow of the music. Some might have considered the shadow idea slightly pretentious. But I think it was done too innocently to be called that.

Feist played pretty much every tune off of THE REMINDER (minus my personal favorite of PAST IN PRESENT but you can't have it all) and through some of her first album favorites from LET IT DIE. It was a very long set of tunes (almost exactly 2 hours) that went by very quickly, which is a sign of a tightly done set.

Leslie Feist is definitely an entertainer and a great songwriter and both were displayed exuberantly on Friday night.