"Possibly a surprise or two..." or 12...

Yesterday, I predicted that there might be "a surprise or two" at the Erin Bode Group's Station Plaza concert.  After attending last night's impressive show, let's revise that to many more surprises than anticipated.  To elaborate:

• Bode performed two strong new songs.  "The Future" is a compelling, downcast tune, and "Believe It" sports an infectious melody that brings to mind elements of The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, and Squeeze.
• For the first time in the 10 concerts of hers I've seen, Bode spent as much time on cover songs as she did on her own material.  Among the covers that I hadn't heard her perform before: Sarah Jarosz's "Run Away," Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells," which Jarosz has also covered, an unusual arrangement of a Beatles classic, "Here Comes The Sun," Jackson Browne's "These Days," Beck's "Looking For A Sign," "In The Long Run" by The Staves, which is ideally suited to Bode's vocal range, a thoughtful, sincere interpretation of Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind," which Bode's mother requested, and an effective, unexpected arrangement of Randy Vanwarmer's 1979 hit, "Just When I Needed You Most."  The most impressive cover, to me, was her spirited take on Joni Mitchell's "Free Man In Paris."  "Free Man...," like "In The Long Run," is perfect for Bode's vocal range, and the band fed off her energy.
• The band performed two of the highlights from the "Photograph" CD at noticeably faster tempos.  "The Mountain" and "Beating On The Door" were particularly brisk.  
• It was interesting to hear the songs I most expected to hear spaced far apart in the playlist.  Bode performed "Chasing After You," "Joseph," "June," "The Little Garden," and "Photograph" in spaced-out intervals between cover songs.
• Two personnel changes in the band stood out: Kara Baldus stepped in admirably well as a keyboardist and backup singer, in place of longtime keyboardist and lyricist Adam Maness.  Tara Santiago's cello playing added color and depth to many of Bode's selections.  Bode and Santiago performed a particularly impressive rendition of Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is The Ocean?"  It impresses me that Bode routinely chooses such material for this annual outdoor concert; it must be a challenge to present such intimate, thought-provoking standards over trains going by and audience shouts of "Hey, Biff! Sally!  Haven't seen you in ages!  Want to go get a pizza?!"
• Bode's husband, bassist Syd Rodway, played guitar exclusively last night, giving many tunes a higher-end resonance.  It was particularly interesting to hear one of Bode's mainstays, "The Mountain," performed this way.

As much as I've enjoyed hearing such favorites as "Holiday," "Sydney Come Down," "Heart Of Mine," "Hide Me," "Two" and the Paul Simon covers, "Born At The Right Time" and "Graceland," performed so compellingly in previous years, it was refreshing to hear strong new material and appealing, unexpected cover tunes last night.  It just goes to show that you might think you know an artist or a band; sometimes, you realize, however, that a talented band, in a different incarnation, and its strong lead singer can still surprise you in ways you weren't expecting.