I think I found the voice that truly defines the word, “Angelic.”
There wasn’t an audience member at the Legacy concert venue on Tuesday night that wasn’t completely blown away by Priscilla’s amazing voice. Her music genre is folk, presented best with acoustic instruments and a stripped-down vocals that literally soothes the soul. It’s simplistic, but it’s like nothing else I’ve ever heard before.
I’ve known Priscilla Ahn since 2008 when she broke out with her hit, “Dream.” The song is mesmerizing, and is recorded live utilizing a sampler on the spot. She loops her voice to create an amazing harmonized effect that is just simply captivating. I remember listening to this song many mornings as I waited for the school bus.
Her music is great, but I had no idea just how amazing her live performances are. The experience on the night really proved that music is best when not only listened to, but also felt. There were no huge speakers, costume changes, or theatrical fireworks, just a talented singer and her band of a cello, piano, guitar, violin, base, and drums – but it was more than enough to make every audience member sway.
It was also the first time I’d ever seen a musician use a Tenori-on, which she performed with the song, “In A Closet.” The Tenori-on is an electronic instrument that synthesizes music through buttons and visual cues, invented by Japanese artist Toshio Iwai. She stood on stage alone, holding the toy-like instrument, and flawlessly performed the song. Check out a snippet of what the unique instrument sounds like here.
She sang several songs from the album that she produced for Studio Ghibli (吉卜力工作室), inspired by the novel, “When Marnie Was There,” by Joan G. Robinson. Her song, “Fine on the Outside” was used as the theme song for the movie based on the book, which premiered in Taiwan in October. Between songs, she told the audience she is a huge fan of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s work, and that it was a dream come true to work with them. It was only appropriate that she then covered Japanese version of “Country Road” from the film, Whisper of the Heart.
To everyone’s amusement, Priscilla’s concert was very much adapted to the Taiwanese audience. She brought out Taiwanese singer, Fran Fran, from the alternative rock band, Frandé (法蘭黛樂團). Fran told the audience it was the first time she has ever performed a duet with a foreigner. The soft voices of the two distinguished vocalists were marvelously harmonious as they sang “Jasmine” (茉莉花) together. She also performed the song, “It Began with a Fallen Leaf,” which she produced with Taiwanese indie band, Sodagreen (蘇打綠).
Furthermore, she surprised everyone when she ended her concert with a cover of “Baby” by Deserts Chang (“寶貝” by 張懸), with impressively near-perfect pronunciation of Mandarin. Her ethnic and cultural background as half-Korean surely blessed her with a gift of grasping new languages.
Instead of just performing the usual hit songs like most musicians do, Priscilla fully immersed herself into her East Asian tour and collaborated with local artists to create a stunning and exclusive concert experience. No video clip can do the justice of experiencing the music from its purest source, and I highly recommend catching her in concert if you want to hear unique and authentic music at its best form.
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