Driver at the Living Room.Photo by Lindsey Thomas
Minnie Driver Sings Something, Snorts Something
Between playing a conniving skank on Will & Grace and a drug-addled, ex-con mom on The Riches, Minnie Driver has always chosen her projects carefully. So we were excited to see her perform Saturday night at the Living Room, where she debuted songs from her forthcoming album, Seastories. Then we overheard her telling someone that she’d just been in the restroom “fixing her makeup and doing blow,” and that she was “kidding about the makeup part.” What a charmer.
Onstage, Driver was just as affable, laughing bashfully when her bandmates corrected her capo placement and calling her guitar skills “totally remedial.” Fortunately, her smoky voice made up for her shortcomings as a musician. Sitting cross-legged on a chair in front of a packed room, she crooned a set of originals just loud enough to be heard over the clinking of glassware. Keeping with a very L.A.-singer-songwriter vibe, she was backed by musicians who have worked with the Wallflowers and Pete Yorn. Driver sounds more professional than she thinks, but don’t let on. The self-deprecation is cute. —Lindsey Thomas
Minnie Driver Sings Something, Snorts Something