As part of the live performances of her Scrooge Revue, McKeown
recruits a handful of audience members in advance to be part of her chorus of
"cranky carolers." This is
where Rhea comes in; being the natural performer that she is, she jumped at the
chance to get on stage with one of her favorite musicians. One of McKeown's requirements for
performance: find an awful, cheesy Christmas
sweater to wear. This led to the
following exchange with one of our table-mates at Joe's Pub:
[Dude:] Hey, I think I was bidding against you for that one on eBay.
[Rhea:] Um, yeah, maybe.
Yeah, maybe, my achin' ass.
Rhea, being Westchester County's preeminent children's musician and an
incurable cheeseball at heart simply opened up her closet et voila. And that's why I'm
really proud of her for doing this: a few years ago, she likely would not have.
Rhea's not anti-holiday at all; she
loves all good-hearted, cute things. A
few years back, the subject matter of McKeown's presentation would have dissuaded
her: "I just can't sing that, because it's not what I would have
written." To come from that to
"But you know what? The material is funny and clever, and I get to
perform on stage with one my favorites" is a brave, remarkable personal
journey to have taken, and I couldn't have been more proud of her for taking
that stage and doing a great job of it.
Cue pictures:
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Rhea, center in black sweater and Santa cap, singing her heart out |
![]() |
Erin McKeown, who was much more in-focus in real life. Stupid camera. |
I haven't gone into much detail about McKeown's songs or
presentation on purpose: this needs to be experienced first-hand, either on
stage or album, to be fully appreciated.
Rhea wouldn't let me listen to the songs beforehand, and as frustrating
as it was she was 100% correct: the show was easily twice as fun given that I
didn't know the punch lines. This is the
second time I've seen McKeown with Rhea: the first was last year, a show in
which she performed her debut album, Distillation,
in its entirety. Obviously, the tenor
and presentation of the two performances couldn't have been more different, but
I was thoroughly impressed with her both times.
If you're looking for a female singer-songwriter that won't have you
suffering from Jewel McLachlan cavities, look no further.
Clearly, Fuck That! isn't
for everybody: the humorless and narrow-minded need not apply. The sort of right-wingers who think gay folks
shouldn't have equal rights should probably steer clear as well: "It's a Very
Queer Christmas" is as funny about that subject as the need for its
existence in 2011 is sad. If, however,
you're as sick of the season as McKeown is or, like me, you're just somebody
who appreciates an intelligent, clever, caustic laugh, it's a steal at only $10. Grab your credit cards and head this way.
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