Melanie Fiona struts stuff for Canada
WEST HOLLYWOOD— In her dressing room in the nether regions of the House of Blues on Wednesday night, Melanie Fiona seemed relaxed and laid back, as if curling up at home for a night of watching TV. So it was hard to believe within minutes she would be onstage whipping up memorably stormy weather at the historic Sunset Boulevard music shrine.
For this night only, the place was renamed the House of Canada, as David Fransen, the consul general in L.A. for Canada, presided at a showcase of Canadian musicians as a lead-up to the Grammys.
Following several warm-up acts of mixed merit, Fiona pranced onto the stage sporting extremely high heels and an extremely short black dress, and proceeded to give a knockout performance that made it clear to anyone with eyes and ears that she is a major star who holds nothing back but gives the audience everything she’s got.
The place was jammed with invited guests, including notable Canadians living in L.A., but also many players from the U.S. music industry. The point was to raise the flag and draw attention to the inclusion, either directly or indirectly, of the many Canadians on the list of Grammy nominees.
So instead of the usual intimate affair for 150 people at his official residence, Fransen decided to “take a walk on the wild side,” and with some help from a number of sponsors, drew a crowd of more than 500.
“I thank you for your interest in Canadian music,” Fransen said. “Or maybe it’s just the free booze,” he added. Among the Canadians who turned up: comedian Martin Short, who was dining with old friend Dan Aykroyd — a House of Blues co-founder in 1992.
Up on the third floor in her dressing room, minutes before taking the stage, Fiona had a request.
“Wish me luck on Sunday,” she asked. “I would just love to bring a Grammy back to Canada. I love this record and it will be exciting to be there as a songwriter.”
It’s the third year in a row Fiona, who is only 28, will go through her paces as a Grammy nominee. This time it’s in the category of Best R&B Song: “Fool for You,” on which she collaborated with Cee Lo Green. The duo is also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Since she clearly has more than enough talent for solo stardom, it’s notable that she often likes to collaborate. “Two heads are better than one,” she explains with a grin. Win or lose at the Grammys, Fiona will also make the trip to Ottawa in April, as a Juno nominee for R&b/soul Recording of the Year for “Gone and Never Coming Back.” In her astonishing House of Blues set, she had no trouble holding the stage with a small band, mixing her best hits of the past with some from her next album. The song list included “Give it to Me Right,” “Gone and Never Coming Back,” “On Monday Morning” and “Change the Record.” Fiona, who grew up in Toronto as the daughter of music-loving immigrants from Guyana, claims her influences include Whitney Hous- ton, Patsy Cline and Amy Winehouse, but the performer she reminded me of was the young, frenetic and fearless Tina Turner.
Like Turner, she is one of those performers you have to see live in concert. And Toronto fans will have a chance to do that before the Junos, which are on April 1 in Ottawa this year, when she returns to her hometown on March 23 for a run at the Masonic Temple.
And then, with perfect timing, in May comes the release of her second album, The MF Life.