Due to appear at the MoMSport centre near the Buda mall of the same name, Suzanne Vega was in a relaxed and reflective mood when she talked to We Love Budapest.
“Actually, it’s a very short tour – it’s only Budapest!” she said about her upcoming visit. “It’s a one-off. It’s pretty much the only one of its kind and it’ll be something very special. Not with my band, just with my bass player Mike Visceglia.”
In the course of a year, Vega has showcased her albums Solitude Standing and 99.9 Degrees Fahrenheit at the London Palladium, the Brighton Dome and the New York City Winery, 30 and 25 years respectively after their release.
But Budapest will be different. “It’s not quite the same as the double anniversary tour, when I went out and did Solitude Standing in its entirety, it’s more the Solitude Standing show plus some greatest hits. It will be far less formal, and lots of fun.”
Vega, it seems, still has fun playing them. “It’s almost become almost a ritual, celebrating all my old albums. Songs like Tom’s Diner and Luka still have resonance, perhaps not the same resonance as when I first wrote them, but I still love singing those songs. I love what they mean to the audience and I put all my heart into it whenever I sing them. If there’s a song that doesn’t work like that any more, I drop it. I’m well suited to this kind of thing by now.”
For Vega, the 11 November event also offers the chance for her to become re-acquainted with the Hungarian capital. “I’ve played Budapest three or four times already. I seem to remember an outdoor place with lots of steps and a big party going on around it all night. Budapest is an interesting idea, it’s one endless party and when you get tired, you step out and go to bed, but it’s always there for you and you can always go back to it whenever you want."
“I loved the coffeehouses, the pastries, the beautiful architecture, the big river running through it – I think we’re staying for a day or two this time.”
With no other similar show in the region, Vega is free to explore other avenues. “I have two other projects in Europe afterwards: a Belgian version of Einstein on the Beach and The Proms for Dutch TV, which will be me with a full orchestra. Then I’ll take time off, and write some new songs, I find it hard to write on the road, I always need some time in solitude, to think.”
Vega’s last record, the critically acclaimed Lover, Beloved, about writer Carson McCullers, came out in 2016. Between then and 99.9 Degrees Fahrenheit in 1992, she only issued four albums, excluding compilations and live releases. “There was been a lot going on in my life, including my daughter growing up,” she says, referring to Ruby, born in 1994 and who later performed several times with her mother. “She’s now a scientist, doing her PHD in Biology. She doesn’t play with me so often these days, I wish she would!”
Suzanne Vega, MoMSport, District XII. Csörsz utca 14-16 Sunday, 11 November, 8pm Tickets 7,900-13,900 forints
