Photos: Todd Owyoung

w/ Hayden

The Pageant, St. Louis 

After the doors surprisingly opened 15 minutes early and gave the hundred-or-so concert-goers some relief from the cold, we all crowded inside the darkened Pageant and took our seats or resumed the standing position. While everyone was anxiously awaiting Feist and her earnest musings translated into lovely poetic songs, Hayden started the night out on the stage. Originally hailing from Toronto, Hayden is a one-man show with an acoustic guitar and a soft-spoken, sensitive personality. "I've always wanted to write a song that would be irritating and stick in people's heads for awhile," he said. The song that followed was a quaint ditty, with a catchy piano riff and cathartic lyrics.His eleven-song set was full of interesting stories - security guards with interesting hobbies, burglaries, and shout-outs to the caterer of the evening - but his set was charming and concise.

Feist appeared onstage with a hand-held lantern, wandering around the stage, looking for her faithful audience. A huge screen was set up in front of her microphone, where she performed a small song in silhouetted form, looping her own voice, creating a gospel effect that was delicate and pretty. A disco ball threw light around the enlarged room, lighting up the members of her band and the audience. She quickly incurred that St. Louis "officially wins as the most melodic city in the world" after instructing various levels of the house to sing with her during "So Sorry," the premiere song from her second LP.Her voice is sexy and husky, full of low and high notes. I could listen to her all night.

She threw out her hits like "1 2 3 4," "My Moon My Man" and"Limit to Your Love," along with more melancholy numbers such as "Honey Honey" and "The Park." She equally combined pieces from Let it Die (2004) and The Remainder (2007), showing off the breadth of her talents with all different types of songs. It was easy to spot her Astrud Gilberto and Cat Power influences in songs like "Gatekeeper," "Brandy Alexander" and "I Feel it All."

Finishing up with an amazing adaptation of "Sea Lion Woman,"Feist proved that her show was simple, laid-back, and innocent, just like her lyrics from "Brandy Alexander" - "it goes down easy." | Kaylen Hoffman