Last night we took K. to Benaroya Hall for her birthday present, seeing Fado singer Mariza in concert. I have never been so mesmerized, thrilled, moved, inspired, and completely in awe of a performer in my life.

From the moment she walked out on stage (tall, willowy, graceful, lithe), the audience responded to her with an eruption of applause and cheers that delighted me–clearly we were in company with a packed house of Fado and Mariza aficionados.

Although she was self-deprecating about her command of English, she was quite fluent throughout the show and endearing from the beginning, saying in her deliberate way, “Thank you for inviting us. Thank you for receiving us.” She struck me as being uncommonly gracious. That in combination with her dramatic, passionate performance makes for a riveting stage presence. She makes masterful use of pauses, letting all sound and movement slowly die away, waiting, and coming back with an electrifying sound. Her range and timbre are the vocal essence of what it is to feel and to be human. And the sheer power of her voice (at one point, with microphone behind her back, she sang out to the back of the hall, over the applause) is simply amazing.

We made it to Bumbershoot this afternoon in time to catch The Whigs, Jakob Dylan, and Ingrid Michaelson.

Here’s K. listening (?) to the punk-rocking Whigs:

Jakob Dylan played with his touring band The Gold Mountain Rebels, and it was thoroughly folk.
I liked Jakob Dylan’s music; he’s a pretty serious guy, with nary a word except “Thank you” between songs. Handsome devil, though.

Ingrid Michaelson was a fantastic performer: funny, charismatic, breathtakingly talented. She gave us a treat by doing a heartbreakingly beautiful cover of Death Cab For Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”–especially nice because I won’t get to Seattle for Death Cab tomorrow night. She also played her brand-new ukeleke and was just generally delightful. We were right in the front row, lucky us!