Mandy Moore, Sugary Sweet
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 16, 2009 7:00PM
Mandy Moore appeared at the LaSalle Power Company last night to perform a private concert for the winner of a Gain detergent competition. The show was exactly what our 15-year-old selves would have loved in 1999, including a singer who opened for The Backstreet Boys along with free candy and free drinks. Surprisingly, though, our 25-year-old selves enjoyed a very different Mandy as she performed an hour-long acoustic set. She hasn’t yet collaborated with her new hubby Ryan Adams, but Mike Viola, the musical director for her new album Amanda Leigh, has also worked with Adams, and the influence shows. (Fun fact: Viola was also the voice of the film That Thing You Do.)
Mandy said that she enjoys having more creative control over her work than she has on previous albums, and the lyrics definitely have more depth than, for example, “Candy.” The highlights of the show were the lullaby-esque “Merrimack River,” and the upbeat new single, “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week,”performed with the Gain concert winner Stephanie Durant. Mandy closed with a much more interesting acoustic version of “Candy.” She mixed up the vocals and poked fun at the corny speaking lines saying, “Who wrote this?”