Shawn Colvin at Chicago City Winery on November 8, 2012

My long-time idol, Shawn Colvin performed at the Chicago City Winery, a new place for wine, food and music in the West Loop restaurant row.  The nice thing about the venue, besides the lofty, cool space and wine-and-food-a-plenty, is that you can purchase actual seats (I think, not optional as I did not see standing room) and you know exactly where you will be and that you do not have to stand.  We have seen Shawn at least 8 times now so I will describe the night referring to the singer-songwriter goddess by first name.  In fact, I felt a bit slighted that we did not have drinks with her after the show (my particular fantasy since we feel as if we almost know her having seen her perform in multiple states and venues over a 17 year period).  Hopefully next time the drinks/meet and greet can be finagled.  

Wearing a Missoni-esque go-go dress with great boots and her buff-arms cradling her guitar, she looked at most 40-something and not nearly her factual 56.  With her usual wit, Shawn disclosed that she recently got her wrist cuff tattoo which to her, seemed like a completely reasonable thing for a woman of her age to do.  It looks completely perfect on her.  I will have to wait for my hipness to catch up to hers before I risk getting one. Might be in my next life but I can dream.

She opened the show with her cover of Seal's "Crazy", although a bit subdued in volume, no one seemed to notice.  Shawn does not "belt out" a tune but lets the words slip out of her mouth quietly and audibly but never loud.  She is likely mellowing with age, like a fine wine.  One of the evenings highlights was Shawn's declaration that her song "Polaroids" was almost never recorded because she realized after writing it that she had stolen the tune from Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter".  She then demonstrated how the two main chords of her song are the exact two main chords of Henley's song.  She decided to record it anyway because, really, "no one can own two chords".  Shawn then launched into a 10 song medley which included Katy Perry's song "California Girls",  to prove the point that many hits have the same two chords.   

The show was great, her singing familiar and comforting, and she is comedian funny.  Lucky for Chicago she is coming back again in February to do two shows at SPACE.  I just might have to go again.