Alanis Morissette Tears Through a Range of “Flavors” in New York

Just three dates into her Flavors of Entanglement tour, Alanis Morissette delivered an energetic, hits-friendly show before a sold-out crowd at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Friday night. With a five-piece band in tow, the artist, sounding virtually the same live as she does on record, alternated between electric and acoustic guitar, peppered with her signature harmonica playing.

Before she even took the stage, Alanis’ voice soared through the concert hall as her pianist segued into the haunting opening solo of 1998’s City of Angels theme “Uninvited.” Clad in a forest-green silk blouse and skinny black jeans tucked into tight black boots, Morissette alternately gripped the microphone stand and flailed around with abandon. At times, it seemed as if the sheer volume of her Cousin It waist-length tresses were propelling her around the stage as the literal and visual darkness of the show were punctuated by fits of pulsating strobe lights.

Though familiar rockers like “All I Really Want” and “Head Over Feet” brought the most immediate response from the audience, it was the artist’s newer, quieter material that resonated most. Heart-wrenching, spectacularly sparse new single “Not As We” brought sympathetic applause after each verse, while self-examining, insecure ballads “Tapes” (also from Flavors of Entanglement) and “Flinch” (from 2002’s Under Rug Swept) were met with similar response. Even the vitriolic “You Oughta Know” was brought down a notch in venom (and BPMs), though fans didn’t refrain from joining in on the chorus, fists clenched in the air.

“Moratorium,” a trip-hop swirl of sputtering sounds and sharp beats inflected with Middle Eastern strings, was the set’s most interesting detour. Reciting the chorus as if it were a mantra of surefire soul-healing, the singer clasped her hands and closed her eyes before spinning wildly as the word “FREEDOM” appeared overhead.

After a brief acoustic set, Morissette performed an encore of perennial favorites, including sing-alongs “You Learn” and “Ironic” (the latter featuring the playfully switched-up lyrics “It’s like meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful… husband”). She closed her show with an apropos finale — “Thank U,” among the most affirmative and upbeat songs in her canon.

Set List:
“The Couch” (Part I)
“Uninvited”
“Versions Of Violence”
“All I Really Want”
“The Couch” (Part II)
“Not As We”
“Not the Doctor”
“Citizen Of the Planet”
“Head Over Feet”
“The Couch” (Part III)
“Sympathetic Character”
“Flinch”
“Moratorium”
“You Oughta Know”
“Tapes”

Acoustic Set
“Hand In My Pocket”
“Everything”
“So Pure”

Encore
“You Learn”
“Ironic”
“Thank U”

Related Stories:
• Alanis Morissette Gets Personal at Intimate NYC Gig
• Alanis Morissette Talks “Dancey” New Album Flavors of Entanglement
• What Alanis Does With All That Junk, All That Junk Inside Her Trunk