by: Dave Ferman (page 52)
Midafternoon last August at Lilith Fair at Starplex, and the temperature is well over 100 degrees - you could just stand there and sweat, feeling like you would pass out.
Brave souls from the shaded seating area ventured up to the lawn, where Lucinda Williams was valiantly trying to get through a 30-minute set.
And there, by the side of the stage, was Natalie Merchant - dancing by herself, in a big floppy hat. She looked adorable - and perfectly, blissfully, happy.
This is not the Natalie Merchant we hear about all the time - that Natalie Merchant is dour, melancholy, arch: When Ginger Spice left the Spice Girls last summer, the joke was that Merchant was to be tapped - as Self-Important Spice.
Truth is, over the course of two solo CDs and seven as head of 10,000 Maniacs, Merchant has built up a body of work that touches on a wide range of human emotion, often with disarming directness and, when appropriate, a genuine, sweet tenderness.
The connecting thread throughout all this work is a gentle, almost homespun feeling and an astute talent for melding lyrics, instrumentation and melody. Which is not to say she can't rock sufficiently hard in concert, because she can.
Rather, it's to say that Natalie Merchant has developed a musical and lyrical persona that continues to subtly change - and most often for the better. Ophelia, her latest, is a more lush record than the 4 million-selling Tigerlily, and a bit more sunny in disposition.
The irony-free Life Is Sweet - a simple evocation of enjoying ourselves as much as possible, despite disappointments and heartache - is the most telling example. But the entire CD has asweet tone, that of a woman who is doing exactly what she wants to, and who knows she can share that enjoyment with others.