She聮s a nutter, but she聮s a totally unique one. She聮s a star, but perhaps the unlikeliest kind to come from Canada in some time. Captivating? She聮s that, too.And while the Toronto-based, Calgary-born Feist is also an engaging on-stage presence, her sold-out performance Tuesday night at the Royal Theatre was lacking ... something. Anything to make us want more.A defining moment, perhaps, or more than a single, fleeting moment of pure bliss (that came at the end of Sealion, her take on Nina Simone聮s Sea Lion Woman).For an abrupt, 77-minute performance, which had its highlights it should be said, it was pretty boring.She gets by, of course. She聮s Feist, after all, a breakout star whose roll-with-the-punches attitude helps her immeasurably. When all else fails -- and she had her mechanical issues last night -- Feist just smiles it all away, and lets fly with a deadpan one-liner or a powerful riff on her guitar. Many of the 1,400 in attendance applauded her valiant efforts, however misguided they were at times. To her advantage, she had a game audience that hung on her every quirk during the first stop on a 10-date tour of Canada with her five-piece band: Drummer Jesse Baird, multi-instrumentalist Bryden Baird, bassist Jason Baird, guitarist Afie Jurvanen, and pianist Dafydd Hughes. 聯Shhh, you聮ll scare the birds,聰 she cooed at the close of My Moon My Man, at which point Feist folded her hands into the shape of a bird, and proceeded to make chirping noises into the microphone.Backed by an electronically looped recording of her whistling, as well as a brass section, Feist worked it all into a strong rendition of The Park, a gem from her recently released third effort, The Reminder. Was it goofy? Kinda. But it was a testament to her star power and natural talent that the audience lapped it up rather than laughed her out of the building.A moody, mid-tempo The Limit to Your Love was next, and it marked the lone occasion in which her live performance bettered a studio version from The Reminder.Call us crazy 聴 and many in the adoring audience most likely will 聴 but Feist on record is a whole lot better than Feist on stage. She聮s far too affected to be effective in the live setting.Feist closed her set with a so-so version of her biggest hit, Mushaboom, a bang-on dance-pop tune from her 2004 sophomore effort, Let it Die. The Juno-winning album, much like The Reminder, is sweet sugar for your stereo speakers. The two recordings sound spontaneous. Her concert? It just sounded sloppy.
