As we adjust to the safer-at-home, socially distanced reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, musicians have made the move to livestream concerts to try and recover lost income or support others. Local rocker Ron Gallo has gone so far as to curate a digital music festival called Really Nice Fest, featuring his own performances as well as those of friends and associates. That included a brief performance Wednesday afternoon from art-pop ace Natalie Prass, who took the (homemade) stage for the aptly titled Nat Prassy’s Super Short ’n' Sappy Instagram Live Set.
Before the performance, the phone camera panned across an illustration that looked like a cozy living room to a homemade title card, narrated by Prass' bandmate/partner/production manager Eric Slick. The book dropped away to reveal Prass hunkered behind her keyboard, adorned with flowers and ceramics by friend Erica Prince. Keeping with the theme of showing support for independent craftspeople and businesses affected by the COVID-19 closures, Prass noted in the title card that her outfit came from Anaconda Vintage.
For two of the three songs, Prass sang along with pre-recorded tracks; with a timeless and versatile voice like hers, even a little karaoke break is pretty special. The first song was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” using the music from Doris Day's version. Prass followed that by accompanying herself on the keyboard for an original co-written with Evan P. Donohue, a poignant love song that touches on the organic nature (and fragility) of romance, as Prass sang: “Love is a rose in a garden / Oh we trimmed it and dried it for autumn / Winter left our rose forgotten / But I guess that it how it goes.” The last number was a preview of Prass' limited-run offering for the upcoming Record Store Day (which has been pushed to June 20). It's a re-release of her debut full-length Natalie Prass bundled with a bonus 7-inch. One side of the single will have Prass' version of Janet Jackson's “Any Time, Any Place” while the other will have an instrumental version of the LP's closer “It Is You” — that's what Prass sang along with, showing off her extraordinary vocal range.
Throughout the all-too-brief show, which clocked in at about 15 minutes, Prass brought the dramatic emotional stakes of each of her songs to life. But she didn't take the whole thing too seriously, either, getting silly with her dog, Marvin, who made a couple of cameo appearances. We're going to need to tap into both of those kinds of energy in order to make it through this crisis. Prass joined the chorus of voices pointing out the importance of human contact, and how good it's going to feel when this is over, as she said: “Nothing will ever ever beat being in a room with all of you. … I miss all of you.”
