Live Review: My Brightest Diamond at the Tractor Tavern
My Brightest Diamond @ The Tractor Tavern w/Ian Chan
February 23, 2019 in Seattle
By Julia Olson
The lovely Shara Nova of My Brightest Diamond graced the Tractor Tavern on Feb. 23 with opener Ian Chang.
Shara started her set as My Brightest Diamond with a quite literal interpretation of her song “It’s Me on the Dance Floor,” dancing her way from the back of the Tractor to the front, pausing here and there to groove it out with the most enthused concertgoers. Then she transitioned into one of the mellower tracks on her 2014 release This is My Hand. Throughout the night Shara was quite keen to involve patrons in songs, asking audience members to clap, row and sing along with some of her more energetic tracks.
Saturday’s set took a thoughtful interlude as Shara sang her track “You Wana See My Teeth” before quickly rolling into the thoughtful follow up “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow; both songs in dedication to the late Trayvon Martin.
After a little more dancing Shara covered the lesser-known Jeff Buckley track “Gunshot Glitter” before LAUNCHING into her infamously tear-jerking track “I Have Never Loved Someone.” She returned to the stage for her encore with an Ian Chang collaboration on the track “White Noise.”
It is astounding the level of movement and sound Shara brought to the stage with the only the help of one live drummer. My Brightest Diamond recordings are quite complex, and while such a simple setup might allude to more of a singer-songwriter type, Shara was quick to show us she could MOVE and PLAY her heart out while still giving us in the audience something to think about.
This show was truly unique; Shara filled the Tractor Tavern with love and confidence while also managing to break through that “Seattle concert-goer freeze” with her focus on movement and community. She covered multiple songs beautifully and really showed off her full range of discography with a perfect balance of slow and fast numbers. Chang as an opener was also a thoughtful choice to support both artists and their music, as the emphasis on percussion both setups brought to the stage encouraged audience members listen and appreciate beat throughout the night.