Brandi Carlile’s intimate performance lights up Turner Hall

Tuesday night, Brandi Carlile took the stage at Turner Hall and lit up the room with her smile and her music. She sat at her piano and opened the set with a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World,” leaning low into the microphone and completely owning the lyrics. The crowd ate it up, enthusiastically cheering and shouting “We love you, Brandi!” as she returned to center stage.

The nearly two hour acoustic solo performance seemed to be as much fun for Carlile as it was for the audience. She told us repeatedly that Milwaukee is one of her favorite stops on every tour. “Two of my favorite theaters in the country are here: the Pabst and the Riverside. I didn’t know how you guys could have another amazing venue, but you do! Look at this place!” she said.

Indeed, the carefully dilapidating grandeur of Turner Hall was perfect for this small show. In another setting, the absence of her bandmates, Tim and Phil Hanseroth (known commonly as The Twins), would have been conspicuous. They add such richness and depth to her music. But in the small space of Turner Hall — where the audience was practically looking her in the eye — it was perfect.

There was such intimacy in her performance. She told stories between songs and thanked the audience for singing along. For the song, “Dying Day,” she stepped away from the microphone, unplugged her guitar and performed with just her voice and her strings. And we enthusiastically joined in on the chorus, “How I miss you and I just want to kiss you/And I’m going to love you till my dying day.”

Later in the show, she divided the room into three parts to sing back-up on her much-loved song, “Turpentine.” And as we sang along, she made each one of us believe that we were the best singers in the country. For me, these are the moments I live for during a concert. It made us feel like we’re part of something together – a feeling I believe we all need a little more of these days.

There is no doubt that Carlile’s performance inspires everyone around her. Standing directly in front of me was a pair of sisters who had recently lost a family member. I watched as Carlile’s music moved them to laugh, to dance and finally to hold each other and cry. During the ballad, “That Year,” tears rolled down cheeks all around me as the words “Ten years I never spoke your name/Now it feels good to say that /You’re my friend again” floated down on our heads. It seemed that everyone in attendance, smiling like a group of crazy people, enthusiastically stomped a percussive foot during the rocking, “Dreams.” Again and again, Carlile lifted us up and brought us to our knees.

New country music sweethearts, The Secret Sisters, warmed up the audience before Carlile’s performance. Their spot-on harmonies, charming personalities and dedication to the sound of classic country music made it easy to tell why they’re enjoying such early success. With a debut album produced by T Bone Burnett, The Secret Sisters are deservedly on a path to a great musical future.