TINASHE with TAYA MARQUIS at Tattoo, Saturday, December 13. Rating: NNN
When Tinashe appeared on stage with her face hidden by a surreal glittering cat mask, it seemed for a moment that the up-and-coming R&B singer was going to take an unexpectedly theatrical approach to performing live. After ripping it off following her first song, that momentarily serious vibe was switched up for a big cheerful smile and a seemingly limitless amount of energy put into her athletic choreography, acting as if the club gig was a high-production arena tour.
Other than her trio of backup dancers, the only other musician on stage was a drummer, but that minimal amount of live playing worked surprisingly well, breathing life into the pre-recorded backing tracks. Stripped of some of the heavy studio processing that often shrouded her voice on her debut album Aquarius, Tinashe revealed a more muscular tone to her singing than her recordings suggest she is capable of. She has an easy confidence on stage and lots of charisma, but by the second half of her set it was clear that she doesn’t quite have a strong enough catalogue of songs to sustain that energy for an entire set yet.