John Grant at Dakota Jazz Club (March 29, 2025)

There might not have been anything better to combat the cold and rainy conditions than to enter the warm confines of The Dakota for an intimate evening of music from singer songwriter John Grant.

Arny Margret was the opener for the evening. The Icelandic born Margret (actual name: Árný Margrét Sævarsdóttir) is relatively early in her career, with an EP and her debut full length album coming out in 2022. She came out to the front of the stage, playing solo on guitar and singing. Her opener, I Miss You, I Do, was a lovely introduction to her folk style. A quick introduction included a mostly sure statement of “I think this is the first time I’ve been to Minneapolis”. As she went into the next number, in tall buildings, there was a fascinating display of what many artists, particularly young ones, do. During the songs, Margret was confident and full of power as she flawlessly performed her songs. But in between, there was a shyness that was apparent in the almost mumbled “thank you very much”. At one point “I don’t have a lot to say…” before actually letting the audience know that she was mostly playing new music, because she has just released an album in the last month. Those moments seemed to endear her to the audience, who were very attentive to her performance. Asked to repeat her name, Arny said it, stated that it roughly translates to “new year” and that “it is very Icelandic”.

Margret continued to play numbers off the new album, with Greyhound Station being a song that reminded me of the upcoming summer weather and could easily lull you to sleep (I mean that as a positive!). After a tuning in which she was flustered by how long it was taking, Margret launched into an Icelandic language song, which was musically similar and evocative in its own way. As she got close to the end, she thanked the audience and led into her final song, they only talk about the weather, the title track of her debut album. Margret certainly made an impression with her calm and composed musical style. As she nearly ran off the stage, it was a good reminder that the confidence as a performer will likely come with more touring experience.

After what may have been the fastest change over I have ever witnessed, John Grant arrived on stage and got right to work. The American, who is now a citizen of Iceland, first came to musical prominence as the lyricist, singer and piano player for the 90’s alternative band The Czars. When that band broke up after a decade, Grant eventually returned as a solo artist having major success. He’s released six albums, including 2024’s The Art of the Lie, which is also the name of this tour.

He opened with Just So You Know, a song written about his somewhat strained relationship with his mother. The song has a good mix of raw emotion and silly humor, which gave us an overview of the evening. This started with Grant at the piano, but it’s worth noting the neat stage arrangement. Grant sat in the space of a U, with piano at his left, a keyboard at center, and the electronic music set up on his right.

Grant’s mix of strong vocals, solid control at the piano and excellent stage presence made for a compelling evening. He immediately went back to his debut solo album for the next song, Where Dreams Go to Die. The piano solo on this one seemed almost classical, but was unquestionably modern, and that was particularly impressive. Here was a performer who used the space between songs to weave story threads that led to the next power ballad. It was also obvious that Grant was going to play from the full extent of his six albums. A tangent about the difficulties of the Icelandic language (and Grant knows many languages, so it’s saying something) was a lead in to Is He Strange, which had some very difficult key changes and maybe even time signatures transitions in the piano work. He’s an extremely talented musician without making a huge show of it.

There’s some similarities to Elton John here, with the strong lyricism and the piano skills, though maybe that’s a little lazy. Grant rattled off a beautiful take of his Touch and Go and the audience was enthralled. A switch to the electronic keyboards changed the mood a little, pulling in more ethereal tones before quickly returning to the piano and the new album, as he played Daddy. Continuing to crack jokes between some of the darker songs, Grant easily kept equal measures of humor and pathos. Sigourney Weaver was a great example of that, with a delightful take down of Winona Rider “and that other guy” (he means Keanu Reeves) not being able to get their accents right in the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Incorporating the electronic set up to give a beat and a backing, auto-tuned style backing vocal, Grant stayed at the piano for Father. I’m not sure that worked exactly according to plan, but Grant mentioned he is working with some people to more fully represent what he is doing musically in his albums in his live tours. But for now, it’s mostly Grant at piano, and honestly, that’s more than enough. His Queen of Denmark got a tremendous reception. GMF was also nice, though he restarted after stating, “that’s the funeral dirge version”. Caramel ended the set and sent us all back into the dreary rain, but it had been a great evening that got us there.