Webb impresses, Sonner admits clumsiness
by Taylor Coe '13
ARTS AND ENTERTAIMENT EDITOR
April 30, 2011
Not too long ago, Alexander Webb was the rookie quarterback on the football team at Northwestern. His career cut short by a liver injury in first collegiate game, Webb reorganized his priorities around music and has been writing and playing ever since. Boasting a sweet voice and skills on the guitar unusual for a confessional-style singer-songwriter, on Thursday night Webb proved himself more than equal to the task of opening for Jessica Sonner.
Sonner, a far less dynamic stage presence than Webb, played a slow, quiet set that seemed to intentionally lull the audience into sleep. If her voice had been smooth and mournful, everyone would have been a goner. But her voice had a sharp edge to it; she sang with a crispness that cut straight through the waves of gentle strumming and finger picking.
Admittedly uncomfortable on the stage, Sonner’s chatter between songs was either explicitly related to the material or total non-sequiturs. Suffice it to say that sometimes I had no idea what she was talking about. Despite her clumsiness on the stage, Sonner’s music—particularly her songwriting—displayed a concise clarity and sometimes even a sense of beauty.