RECAP: Joan Osborne @ Universal Preservation Hall, 4/10/2024

Photo credit: Joan Osborne at the Egg, Albany, NY, 2022. Photo by Timothy Reidy.

Words by Ian Losz.

I would not label Joan Osborne a diva. She’s a star. A feet-on-the-ground kind of star.

Though she may be firmly planted on this good earth, when she sings, she could easily be put up on a high pedestal. Thursday evening, Saratoga Springs residents settled for the stage at Universal Preservation Hall.

In the intimate setting of this former church structure,  this three-piece band opened her Dylanology Tour. It was refreshing to listen to a concert with just the right amount of sound, not over-produced, not overwhelming, not flashy. Just conveying a heritage of American music from one American artist by another.

Prior to the show, I listened to the rehearsal/sound check. This being the first show of the tour, one would have expected bumps and fine-tune adjustments for the first live show.

But when it came to show time, it was tight and flawless, charming and seductive. And UPH was the ideal venue.

The majority of the show featured tracks recorded on her 2017 Dylan tribute album, “Songs of Bob Dylan.”

However, some songs were a first-time-ever live performance. They hit those out of the park. One example was “Man in the Long Black Coat.”

It sounded good to everyone in rehearsal. However, when it was performed for the audience, you could hear a pin drop … you could even hear the breath of the audience. And it was mesmerizing.

“High Water” was another song that had that Dylan feel but with Joan’s spin, and unfolded with a soulful feeling straight off a Dylan gospel album.

She was flanked by guitarist Jack Petruzzelli and keyboard/pseudo-bass organist Will Bryant, who kept a rousing drive to Osborne’s lofty vocals, with Joan keeping beat on a snare drum on several numbers.

While Osborne’s vocals carried the evening, the harmonies provided by the Dylanology Trio gave a choral breath to the threesome’s live performance.

With Bob Dylan’s vast catalog, many of Joan’s versions took little resemblance of Dylan. She’s achieved making some of these songs memorable in her own voice. Her bluesy version of “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35” treated the audience to a grooved rendition that went from blues, to rock jam, to harmonies.

Universal Preservation Hall was embraced by the performers, and the audience’s proximity to the stage always makes the shows here special. At times, fans even conversed with Osborne.

The track straight out of a smokey club, played rockabilly-style, was “Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat.” With Joan rapping on the snare drum, Bryant tickling a grand piano, and Petruzzelli exhibiting ultra-toned guitar chops, this song exhibited the power of this ensemble.

If you are unable to see Dylan, enjoy this journey of his compositions evoked by Joan Osborne.