(G) Joanna Newsom @ Arthurball, Echo Park (Feb. 25) Grade: B+
I bought my ticket for Arthurball solely to see Newsom, who I adore (just ask New Wave), but the fest planned it so the singer/songwriter/harpist performed downstairs in the Echo basement (Ex-Plex). The last time I went to the basement was for the Fuck Yeah Fest, and all I remember was how terrible it was: poor acoustics, weird space, no circulation. Everyone packed in to see Newsom, and it became so warm, one of my friends almost fainted. To make matters worse, the Echo had DJs spinning upstairs, so you could hear the thump-thump of music as Newsom performed acoustic with only her harp. Not the best situation. If based on her alone, it would have been an A+. She performed almost all of her new material (not yet released), and they were amazing. She just gets better and better. She also appeased fans by singing some requests: “Sadie,” “Bridges and Balloons” and “Peach, Plum, Pear” (my favorite song of hers). I would love to see her again but definitely in a different setting.