Concert review: Sarah Jaffe at The Loft In Dallas (June 15)

by Josh Hogan

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In a venue like The Loft, Jaffe's music carries the show and there is no need for any extracurricular activity to keep the audience entertained.

In front of a hometown crowd, Sarah Jaffe belted out songs from her entire catalog at The Loft in Dallas on Tuesday night. The gorgeous venue above The Palladium seemed to suit Jaffe perfectly, or at least much better than the Dallas Music Hall at Fair Park did back in May when she opened for Norah Jones.

As usual, Jaffe’s set was filled with overwhelmingly impressive vocals in front of minimalist acoustic music. Strapped with an acoustic guitar and accompanied by a keyboardist and cello player, she swam through songs from her debut album Suburban Nature, as well as some stuff from her earlier EPs. And in typical Jaffe fashion, movement up on stage was kept to a bare minimum.

The one knock so far in Jaffe's very young career is that she, at times, appears to be uncomfortable up there under the lights. She seems to be just a little bit shy and even a little bit unapproachable during her sets, which for a lesser musician could be crippling. However, for Jaffe it is not, especially when she is tucked away in a small or midsized venue like The Loft. There, her music carries the show and there is no need for any extracurricular activity to keep the audience entertained. Each person in the room seemed to have their eyes and ears focused directly on Jaffe throughout the set, and she acknowledged that by remarking how fixated everyone was on her. “You guys are so quiet. Thank you,” she said, “I really mean that, thank you.”

While her overall stage show might not be perfected yet, her music is hypnotic. It’s like you are staring into a fire: Jaffe’s songs wash away everything else on your mind and you're left only with music flowing through your ears. This was never so true than during “Summer Begs,” in which she enlisted the help of the audience to help sing the harmony. The most poignant lyrics of the song – “Hold it right there, I don’t want to move. Summer it begs, begs us to prove, that we can last, last one more season” – proved that on this hot summer night in Texas, nobody moved. They sang along with the “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” that wrap up the tune.

“You all look like little angels under the lights,” she told the crowd.

Jaffe now hits the road again in support of Suburban Nature. She will continue to open for indie rock legend Lou Barlow in the next few weeks as they tour the Midwest and West Coast. Then, perhaps, she can enjoy the success her debut album has garnered.

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