Beth Orton played a free show on Saturday night at Celebrate Brooklyn! and I think it turned out to be a very pleasant evening for everyone involved. I really enjoy Beth’s music, and her acoustic set accompanied by multinstrumentalist Rob Moose was enthusiastically received by the respectful and appreciative Park Slope crowd. The only quibble I have with Beth is her tendency to be overly self-deprecating (she has been known to suffer stage fright and I suspect this is a way of dealing with it), what starts off as cute and charming quickly becomes distracting when it’s used as a crutch.

On a side note, it was my first time “officially” shooting a Celebrate Brooklyn show, and while the results didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, I did manage to come away with a couple passable shots. You can view the full flickr set over here.

Due to popular demand, Beth Orton has added a late show at the Hiro Ballroom on March 31. Buy Tickets (while you still can).

Beth Orton and Bert Jansch (07/14/07)

Photo: Matt Seppings

Good news east and west coasters, Beth Orton has just announced a limited set of March tour dates in New York and California. No word yet on whether a new Beth Orton album is in the wings, as you may recall, she last appeared as a guest on Bert Jansch’s 2006 album The Black Swan and her most recent record was 2006’s Comfort of Strangers.

Beth Orton 2008 Tour Dates
03/24/08 San Francisco, CA - Cowell Theatre
03/28/08 Los Angeles, CA - The El Rey
03/30/08 Brooklyn, NY - MHOW (Solo acoustic seated show on sale 03/12 at noon)
03/31/08 New York, NY - The Hiro Ballroom