It feels a little crazy to say that I've been listening to Basia Bulat for over half my life, but after doing the quick math it turns out to be true. Since her debut self-titled EP, I've been enamored with her gorgeous songwriting and that attention has only grown with each passing album. Despite that fandom, I have seemingly always missed my opportunity to see her perform live, but when she was announced for the Old Town School's Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall, I knew this would be the perfect setting for her incredible sounds. Turns out, I was 100% right.
Opening up the night was Maia Friedman, who quickly grabbed everyone's attention with her quiet and tender songs. The set was short and quiet enough that you could here a pin drop, but I assure you this is a compliment of the highest order for both Friedman and the crowd.
Performing tracks almost entirely from her upcoming album Goodbye Long Winter Shadow, Friedman gently lead the the respectful crowd through songs about her recently deceased cat ("Russian Blue") and a song written about a friend who also recently died ("On Passing"). "There's a bit of a theme here" she softly remarked, getting a solemn giggle from the crowd. "In A Dream It Could Happen" may have been the biggest highlight of her set as its lyrics have been swirling around in my head since the show.
When it came time for Basia Bulat and her full band, which includes her husband Andy Woods, the reverent crowd couldn't have been more ready, but I'm sure that "Heart of My Own" caught everyone off guard coming so early in the setlist. It's one of the songs that feels synonymous kind of strong and rare folk strings that lead into Bulat's singing at her most full and vibrant. Live, the song retains all the vulnerability in both the lyrics and her voice and the slight vibrato in her voice filled the venue. It's a song near and dear to my heart, and hearing it performed by Bulat and her full band was breathtaking.
That seemed to be a constant throughout Bulat 's set as she has a way of completely enthralling a crowd with her songs. Right in the middle of the set, the band exited the stage to allow for a brief solo performance from Bulat. She opened up the setlist to the crowd, asking for requests, which immediately poured in. After the instant shouts of "Little Waltz" were satiated with a fantastic rendition, "Five, Four" was shouted out by an eager fan. "That was said with such conviction I have to play it now," she joked before diving in. But it was "In the Night" where everything fell into place. On her debut album Oh My Darling, the song is jangly and uplifting despite its melancholic lyrics; live it hit with a little more emotional weight as her fingers strolled across her strings and her voice rang out "I can tell you are a long way from the one you love". It honestly brought a tear to my eyes hearing her put every ounce of herself into that song.
The second portion of the night saw Bulat at her utmost comfortable, laughing and joking with the crowd in betwen songs as if we were all old friends. As the band returned she finally introduced herself "My name is Basia Bulat", pronouncing her name like many first time listeners likely did (Bah-See-ah Boo-Lay), before quickly saying "no it's not" as the crowd laughed. "If you get to hear my deep cuts you get to hear all my jokes too. She would double down on the joke later on between "The Last Time" and "Baby", giving an ironic nod to Chicago's history: "I get asked a lot about my name. It's a Polish name. I'm sure you don't get a lot of Polish here in Chicago." She flashed a knowing smile that was reciprocated with a hearty guffaw from the crowd.
The rest of the show felt like a beautiful blur. Newer songs of Basia's Palace like the aforementioned "Baby", a song that she felt she couldn't get right until she was older, to "Disco Polo" and its connections to her father felt like welcome additions to her varied repertoire. "It Can't Be You", a tried and true favorite came at the end of the set but it wasn't all said and done until Bulat found herself perform alone again for a second time during the encore. She eventually found herself in the crowd and bringing every one to harmonize in a communal moment fitting of Old Town School of Folk Music.
All photos by Julian Ramirez.