Natalie Merchant Proves Majestic & Gracious At Saratoga’s (CA) Mountain Winery (SHOW REVIEW)

When Natalie Merchant arrived on stage promptly at 7:30 pm for the May 29th at the Mountain Winery – her second of two shows at the venue in support of her new album “Keep Your Courage” – less than half of the audience had made it to their seats. 

The venue – a stunningly picturesque amphitheater replete with old-world ambiance, ivy-covered buildings, and Tuscan charm – sits atop one of the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, with views of downtown San Jose and the southern end of the San Francisco Bay. It’s one of the most dramatically beautiful concert spaces on the West Coast. However, it’s only accessible by one long, very windy road (with no guardrails) that snakes up the side of the mountain and an ill-conceived parking process. It’s a trek for any of the 2,500 attendees that come to the Mountain Winery for its exquisite summer concert series. 

Despite starting with fewer than 50% of the audience, Natalie Merchant seemed to thrive on navigating the experience of the crowd trickling in. Ushers held patrons back until the end of each song, but this allowed Natalie a chance to make comments to people coming in – playful banter that immediately established an easy rapport with the singer. At times, she felt like a jocular schoolteacher faux chiding her class for rowdy behavior. What it did was ease the audience into the evening and establish a good-natured connection between them, Natalie, and the band. And as the sun started to set and the band really was hitting their stride with a spirited “Narcissus” (from Leave Your Sleep) and a tear-jerking “Tell Yourself” (from 2001’s deeply underrated Motherland), it became clear this night, in the chilly Californian evening atop the Santa Cruz Mountains, was going to be a truly special evening for everyone in attendance. 

Natalie Merchant is not the type of artist to slouch into “legacy musician” status, regurgitating a greatest hits-heavy setlist night after night until the end of her performing days; rather, every time she visits California on her tours, there’s a new story being told – whether it’s with new songs, varied setlists, or stirring new arrangements of old favorites. Take “Ophelia” – the titular track from her 1998 masterpiece album. She’s performed “Ophelia” countless times over the last 25 years, but the new version (from 2017’s Butterfly album), featuring Megan Gould (violin), Whitney La Grange (violin), Marandi Hostetter (viola), and Eleanor Norton (cello) both on the album and for this tour is absolutely stunning. It complements the moody darkness of the piece but expands its landscape with new voices and musical twists. Throughout Merchant’s show on Wednesday, it felt like we were hearing so many songs from her catalog in a new light. 

Particular highlights included the brilliant rendition of “King of May,” which Merchant even remarked was perhaps the best performance she’d done of that song. It’s a tribute to Allen Ginsburg, who Merchant befriended in the last few years of his life. She preceded the song with a slightly blue joke about something Ginsburg wrote her in his inscription for his book Howl, after hearing Merchant’s lyrics from the 10,000 Maniacs hit “Hey, Jack Kerouac” – “Allen, baby, why so jaded? / Have the boys all grown up and their beauty fade?” From her story, it was evident how deep their friendship was to Merchant, which made the lyrics even more meaningful as she sang them into the late evening air, her voice soaring above spirited strings. 

“Make ready for the last King of May
Make a hole in the sky for him
And raise your voices up
Lift your loving cups
To his long life
His long life”

With a catalog extending back to 1981 with the 10,000 Maniacs and 1995 as a solo artist, there’s no way to satisfy every single fan; however, Merchant’s 3-hour setlist did a fantastic job of covering many key moments from her illustrious career. Yes, some may be disappointed to not have any 10,000 Maniacs tracks featured, but Merchant’s show very much felt like a stop along a well-trodden journey that still has a long way to go before reaching any destination. She’s amassed a magnificent body of work, but the feeling I got from her show on Wednesday was there are so many stories she could tell, but this 3-hour story is the one that is most moving her as an artist. There’s a beauty in witnessing that in someone who has been creating art for forty years. She encourages us to trust her artistic voice and the direction of the ship we’re on, and what she delivers is a brilliantly thought-provoking, wonderful evening of songs that run the gamut. From hits like “Wonder,” “Kind & Generous,” “Carnival,” and “Life is Sweet” to deeper cuts like “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience,” “Giving Up Everything,” and the great songs from her wonderful new album Keep Your Courage, the setlist offered something for fans both rabid and casual. 

A review of any of these California dates (which were rescheduled from September 2023, after Natalie and the band fell sick with COVID) would be incomplete without a moment spent lauding the incredible vocals of Abena Koomson-Davis, an educator, vocalist, and musical director of the Women’s March Resistance Revival Chorus. Her harmonies perfectly complemented Merchant’s voice, weaving together to take songs like “Big Girls,” “Come On, Aphrodite,” “Sister Tilly” and “River” to new heights. When she took the lead melody on a line, she presented it with grace and precision, thoughtfully shifting between powerful chest voice and tender head voice. Every time she joined Merchant onstage was a joy to witness. 

All we can ask of our musicians is that they continue to evolve, experiment with new ways of seeing the world, and show us that vision through their lens. Natalie Merchant’s continual pursuit of new stories—even if it’s digging into history books to learn about the origins of circuses in America (something she shared early in the show)—and desire to offer new perspectives make her a fascinating artist to follow. Wednesday’s show felt like just another stop along her journey, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.