Nellie McKay @ Carnegie Hall: Baby, Watch Your Back

Whoa, Nellie (apologies for the Furtado reference, I couldn't help myself!). Ms. McKay performed a sensational ninety-minute set Friday night at Zankel Hall (@ Carnegie Hall) highlighting tunes from her two releases to date - Get Away From Me & last year's Pretty Little Head - alongside a dozen or so brand new tracks to be featured on her upcoming LP, Buncha Shit.

Opening with the previously unheard and ever-so-sarcastic 'Feminists Don't Have A Sense Of Humor', Nellie was on a roll all evening long. Including comical rants about Dick Cheney, carnivores, Sheryl Crow, China... oh, and the demolition of ancient sacred buildings around NYC, Nellie's activist side shone brightly for the entirety of the show. Other new tracks included 'Over-sure (Maxine Shrek)', 'Zombie' (complete with an adorable mummy/corpse-influenced dance routine), 'Santa Maria', 'Say It Again If You Will' and the German-sung 'Mein Auto Zooms' - one of a handful of songs performed in a language other than English (also showcased: Indian, Mandarin, French and Spanish!).

As far as the older tunes, from Get Away From Me, we heard: 'Waiter', 'Toto Dies', 'Really', 'Baby Watch Your Back', 'Suitcase Song', 'The Dog Song' (encore via undying fan requests), and 'Work Song'. From Pretty Little Head, Nellie selected 'Pink Chandelier', 'GES', 'Yodel', 'Lali Est Parisseux', 'Old Enough', 'Gladd' and 'Swept Away'.

For 'Work Song', Nellie divided the 600-capacity crowd into three sections to split the intertwined ending vocal harmonies of the tune. The left side of the room sang in Mandarin, the right part of the auditorium got the 'ooh ooh ooh's while the center fraction hummed a steady stream of 'doom doom doom's. Hilarity and cacophony ensued. Genius.

Earlier in the show, Nellie joked about her mom's criticisms of her live shows and the mixed messages she sometimes sends regarding fan participation. She confirmed that she does indeed love singalongs, even proclaiming that someone should duet with her, on the spot, if they snuck a portable mic through security. I'm holding you to that one next time, Nellie!

I went into Friday's Carnegie show convinced that Nellie could do no wrong and left with further solidification of my original sentiments.

*photo via Nellie's fan site, and NOT from the Carnegie gig but rather Nellie's Atlanta show from late last year*

MP3: Nellie McKay - Mein Auto Zooms (via NellieMcKay.org)