Jessica Pratt at Fine Line, Minneapolis (18 July 2024)

 

Jessica Pratt, with a full band, recently stopped by the Fine Line, in Minneapolis, touring in support of her fourth album, Here in the Pitch, available now on Mexican Summer.

I’m not going to lie; this was one of the worst concerts going experience. I’ve complained about the Fine Line in the past, the sight line is not good if you are in the back of the venue. The venue itself is a long rectangle, with a stage that is maybe raised two feet. The view is great if you’re in the front, or if you paid extra for balcony seats, but once the venue is full, it’s hard to see the band.

It’s impossible to see the band, if they are sitting down. I don’t have a problem with artists sitting down, but if it’s nearly impossible to see the artist, then the venue should provide seats for the audience to sit as well or provide a very high seat or stool for the artist. Some venues provide viewing monitors for those in the back… but not the Fine Line.

Basically, what ended up happening is that everyone in the back of the venue was just listening to the show. Sure, it sounds great when Pratt sings, and the songs are wonderful little stories. The other problem is that the first fifteen minutes were indecisive with tuning and lots of dead air (since we couldn’t see what was going on). It felt like it was a long sound check.

 

If you were really tall or in the front, you probably really enjoyed the Jessica Pratt show. It was probably top ten performance of the year… like when we saw Pratt in Oct 2019: “Jessica Pratt came out decked in a black suit wearing dark shades, her blonde hair shaggy around her face as she clutched her acoustic guitar. I had never heard her music before this festival, and after giving her latest album Quiet Signs a solid listen I was beyond thrilled to find this lady. She’s a 70’s folk dream, a lullaby and a haunting figure as she strummed her guitar and mesmerized the crowd with her breathy tunes. Accompanied by Matthew McDermott on piano, the set was slow and soft, a nice sigh of air as festival goers sipped on their coconut waters and beers.”

We did see opener June McDoom since both McDoom and her guitarist Evan Wright, standing tall on stage. McDoom mentioned that she was actually normally nervous, but for the Fine Line appearance, for some reasons, she had butterflies that night, as she prepared to play “Emerald River Dance.”

McDoom and Pratt made a good pairing, hopefully there will be crossover fans.