The first time we saw Imogen Heap was at the rodeo on Austin, Texas, about eight years ago when she was touring on her first album I Megaphone (we'd fished the record out the promo box at the used CD store where we worked and fell instantly in love). Performing a short set for a radio event, she sat alone at her piano and sang "Come Here Boy" with a voice that filled up the dirt-filled coliseum. Then she disappeared for four years, eventually reemerging as the voice of Frou Frou, a duo that rarely toured. Thanks to some love from Zach Braff and "The O.C.", her audience continued to grow, but when she recorded her second solo album Speak For Yourself in her London flat in 2004, she still didn't have a record label in the U.S. It's been a steady climb for Immi, so it was a pleasure to see her perform Sunday night to a packed crowd at the Warfield.
Opening the show was local artist Kid Beyond, an adult man who does some incredible beatboxing. If you're a fan of spoken word, beat-driven electronic music and the occasional cover song, you really should see him perform. Mostly we just marvelled at the unbelievable sounds he was making with his mouth, and our interest in him peaked when Imogen brought him out as a part of her band, mimicking exactly the beats on her recordings.