When last I saw Sharon Van Etten in concert she existed in her comfort zone. Her sister called out to her from the audience, her hometown Brooklyn fans greeted her with random banter, and the National’s Aaron Dessner played guitar on a few tracks.
There’s a reason why home games are called home games.
On Friday, I caught Van Etten’s show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. Her sister, as far as I know, was not present, the fans were polite but generally subdued, and there were no special cameos.
To Van Etten’s credit, though, she held the room like she was playing in her backyard.
