Lana Del Rey’s intriguing Seattle debut

Lana Del Rey dropped by Easy Street Records Saturday for a free in-store performance and autograph session. The event provided the hundreds in attendance an opportunity to judge for themselves whether Lana Del Rey is a flash in the pan worthy of the harsh Internet criticism she’s received or if she’s the real deal who is ready for her close up. Here are a few quick notes and observations from her set:

• Two things were clear from the opening notes of her first song: 1) She has a great voice with lots of potential. It carried tremendously well throughout the store. 2) Her voice needs a lot of polish. She has some undeniable talent but she struggled to hit notes often. She gets points for attempting to show off a bit her range but she shouldn’t be attempting to hit certain notes if she can’t make them.
• Her imperfections were refreshing. Often times her struggles came when she attempted to transition between deep, husky vocals to something a few notes higher or when she would try add a bit of flourish to a note with vibrato or pull off other vocal tricks. It wasn’t wince-inducing but she was noticeably off mark and in a strange way it was nice to hear a pop singer not be perfect.
• Her stage presence has improved since her SNL appearance but she still looks noticeably uncomfortable. She wasn’t as stiff and wooden as she looked on TV but she did appear a bit anxious and unnatural while singing and attempting banter between songs. It could have been her nerves getting to her but she didn’t look quite comfortable in her own skin.
• A lot has been written about how her sexuality is being marketed and it’s tough to say whether she is trying to fit a pop star mold that’s been created around her girl-next-door sexpot appearance or if she really is a vixen with a commanding, sultry voice (my guess is she’s a bit of both). Trying to figure out who the real Lana Del Rey is added intrigue to the performance and that’s part of what makes her such a fascinating artist.
• The crowd loved every minute of her performance. Shouts of support, and a few of objectification, (“ex: “I want to touch your lips.”) were yelled out during the silence between songs. Her five-song set included “Born To Die,” “Blue Jeans,” “Video Games,” “Without You” and “Summertime Sadness” and according to reports she spent three hours signing autographs after her performance.