Now it's her time to strut
Amanda Marshall hones her safe radio-rock image into edgier pop star
By T'Cha Dunlevy
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Montreal Gazette
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Sunday, March 03, 2002
Amanda Marshall took over Metropolis last night, after playing Theatre St. Denis on her last few visits. The move hints at an attempt to adjust her image - from sit-down audience and safe radio rock to hipper, edgier, even groovier pop star.
Note: hints.
Marshall has her thing down, and she's not about to proclaim any stylistic revolutions. But the market has changed since her massive, self-titled 1995 debut. See: Nelly Furtado.
And so, after the introspective sophomore effort (and growth album) Tuesday's Child, Marshall recently returned with Everybody's Got a Story. Released at the end of last year, the disc boasts dashes of R&B amid the tempered rock and giddy pop. It is slated for U.S. release in the spring.
She came out swinging, singing and with a confident, ebullient strut. Marshall's got energy. Two songs in, she gave Dizzy, off the new album, a slow funk makeover.
Featuring the lines, "I like salsa with my pancakes, baby / I like to vacuum when I'm in the nude," it showed an artist at play - something Marshall has always been. But there's a sense, at 29, she coming into her own.
"I've got a surprise for you," she taunted after Dizzy. ''Do you want to see it?"
After a brief struggle with her rather snug black jacket, she revealed a tight-fitting, customized Habs T-shirt. The band launched into Fall From Grace, off her debut.
The wild cheers from the sellout crowd were proof of the power of a strong start. Marshall has a significant list of sure-fire hits from her first album - classics, to her fans.
Everybody's Got a Story, with its moderately updated sounds, might prove an effective return to the top of the charts. It's a question of whether she can synthesize the disparate elements in her music and get her ebullient personality to come through in the mix.
Energy levels were up and down during the first half of the show, as Marshall did her best to maintain audience interest while she introduced the new material.
She's made her name with her voice, and it was when it was given the spotlight that things came together. Taking a seat for her early-career hit Sitting On Top of the World, Marshall executed the turn and took over the show.
She followed up with Marry Me, a self-explanatory ballad off the new record. A tad sappy, to be sure, but there was no longer the feeling she was trying too hard, felt at certain moments earlier on. The catty Colleen, which followed, also benefitted from a pared-down arrangement.
All of which set the stage for Everybody's Got a Story, the new album's title track. The cheers that erupted signified the birth of a new hit and a promising evolution for Canada's rock diva.
Opening act Five for Fighting won over the crowd with a solid, if innocuous, set of emotive, melodic pop.
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