Concert review.

She is better live than she is on CD--and that's a standard difficult to achieve. A classically trained Jewish/Russian pianist with a smile as attractive as her stage presence, Regina employs the talents of a violinist, cellist, and drummer to complement her grand piano onstage. She even picks up a sea green electric guitar and pop-synth keyboard for a few numbers, giggling with the audience at her spirited crowd-pleasing efforts. The real gem in Ms. Spektor's musical crown, though, is her vocal prowess. Whimsical at best and nonsensical at worst, Regina's words hold a mirror to every song, each one generously marbled with quirky, sparkling sounds. I sometimes take music too seriously--every track by my beloved Bright Eyes is its own tortured lyrical epic--but Regina's playful, bubbly vowels remind me that music is meant to be liberating.