I went and thought it was awesome. I agree about the long wait time between the opener and Joanna. There was no reason for that. I've always assumed venues do that to sell more beer, but there's no beer to sell at 6th and I, so who knows...
First time at the venue, and it was a beautiful place for a show. I wasn't close enough to see her facial contortions in any great detail, so none of that bothered me, but her voice is better live, and watching her play the harp is kind of mesmerzing. You get a much better sense of how varied and intricate her playing really is. I think things lulled a little when she went to go play the piano for a few songs. I couldn't actually see her at all at this point, as the giant harp was in her way. Her backing band was okay, although I couldn't quite understand the point of the guy to her right. He would switch instruments every 20 seconds, play for like 2 seconds, and then switch again. I got the impression he was just making shit up on the fly, especially during the closing song, when he seemed to be on his own little world for a while, providing accompaniment that just didn't fit at all. He also seemed like kind of an arrogant douche. Rest of the band was appropriately low key. I also thought Emily (the song) sounded unbelievably awesome, maybe one of the top 5 or so concert song experiences for me.
Anyway, I'd go again tonight, if I had a ticket...it's definitely worth it.
