Tuesday, September 2, 2008

THERESE NIGHTFIRE "The Voice Within"

by jenny heying

In a brand new venue that was completely white, I patiently waited to hear Therese Nightfire. Having heard a fair bit about her, I was looking forward to hearing her live. Aside from feeling distant from the stage and stream, Therese led off with Don't Know Why and pleased my ears as well as Nora Jones'. While the stream was tinny and distant, Therese's voice was powdery and sweet. The kind of voice that would make grown men weep. In between songs, she sounded like she was in a tin tunnel and echoed quite a bit. Probably her allergies as she alluded to. The stream also kept cutting in and out which was a bit annoying.

Back to her voice however which covered any signs of allergies. Ms Nightfire is at her best with soft romantic songs. Her voice suits it. She hits every note clearly and ensures her presence is felt.

Therese uses backing tracks like a lot of second life performers do and while I'm not a big fan of them, Therese's were strong and blended well with her personable voice. The crowd of just under forty at Sylar's White Room seemed to fall in love with her voice as well. The downside was that unfortunately there were a few problems with the stream which as I mentioned cut in and out and Therese crashed as well. Ms. Nightfire also tends to do a lot of bantering in between songs which we've come to expect in second life, but I think she does it for a bit too long. With her talent, we'd like to hear her sing more.

After a lengthy delay due to a crash, Therese came back with My Immortal and again, it was worth the wait. Therese seems to have a magic touch with delivering her songs. She captures the emotion that I'm sure the song writer intends and if not, should have. You feel the sadness and the joy and you feel the pain that Therese portrays. Your really feel it most on How Could You?, a self penned tune that showcases Ms. Nightfire's talent as a songwriter. It's an emotional song of course and delivered by Therese, the pain is yours.

On the livelier side, Therese did an amazing rendition of New Soul, that had me tapping my feet (well tapping my keyboard anyway). It's a light, fun song and was a nice break from the emotional roller coaster that Therese takes you on. She followed with an impromptu, funny and silly version of My Heart Will Go On, words adlibed for the venue, but it was a nice change.

Wrapping up her set was Taylor Swift's Our Song, Chantal Kreviazuk's Feels Like Home and Colbie Caillat's Bubbly, all done with the same emotion and talent.

Therese Nightfire is an amazing singer, her talent shows and she could very well be one of the best singers in second life. I'd just like to hear her sing a bit more, 6-7 songs in a hour is a bit below the average.

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