Touring in support of her latest CD "Beauty and Crime", Suzanne Vega led off the concert with her a-capella version of Tom's Diner.  Often reserved for the end of the show, thus giving the audience an opportunity to sing along, this humble beginning took the concert into a different, yet charming and beautiful direction.  As Vega chanted each verse, one by one the band members entered the stage acting out what was being sung.  It was no longer just a song - we were in Tom's Diner, seeing the morning unfold.  It was the beginning of a new day in New York, and a new beginning was experienced in Chicago.

The concert was a mix of both old and the new.  There was enough new to get a taste for the album but enough old to provide the common thread that made the concert like coming to a friend's house and being reminded of the history you share by the pictures on the wall.

Most of the newer tunes were fully backed by a tight band (comprised of guitar, bass, drums, keys, viola and lush layered harmonies) led by the driving artistry of bassist Mike Visceglia. The older tunes were often allowed to stand on their own, naked and stripped down with either Vega solo or Visceglia accompanying.  As the colors of a sunlit cityscape give way to deep shadows and sparkling life at night, so too the stripped down versions of her songs had their own depth and lacked for nothing.

Vega's presence on stage was engaging and entertaining.  Without compromising the profound, poetic artistry that characterizes the Vega experience, she had a lightness and comfortableness on stage that held your hand as you ventured into the deepest parts of the verse-laced chambers of her heart - yet never once did claustrophobia set in.  On the contrary, every step opened into new sprawling vistas of beauty.

When the last song began (prior to the encores), it was surprising to hear it was a take on DNA's remix of Tom's Diner-complete with Vega grooving on stage.  It was a far cry from the stage fright filled, soft spoken poet of many years ago.  It was a glimpse of new beginnings.  Just as every day is a new beginning – starting in the morning with a cup of coffee in Tom's Restaurant, through the streets of a life in New York (and the world), ending at "night" with a dance club themed motif.  It was a day packed into an hour and a half - a day filled with beauty. The only crime was that the day was much too short…