PHOTOS BY CARLIE ARMSTRONG

The wooden panels of the Walt Disney Concert Hall became trees lining an intimate forest clearing Friday evening (Nov. 9) when the venue hosted an enchanting evening of music by Joanna Newsom. After yanking her slinky black dress free of the harp stool, Newsom performed the entirety of her sophomore album Ys as a first set, backed by a 29-piece orchestra and a three-piece band. Violins dropped pizzicato raindrops all over "Emily," as a barefoot drummer Neil Morgan beat out a Celtic rite on his bass drum; Van Dyke Parks' inventive string arrangement for only "Only Skin" threatened to overwhelm the delicacy of Newsom's quirky folk art, but couldn't diminish the mesmeric effect of watching her hands float across the harp strings.

Maybe it was the lack of orchestra during the second set, or maybe it was the fan in the audience that exclaimed, "That's a purty dress" when Newsom reappeared in a hot pink velvety slip. Either way, second set highlights like "Colleen" and "Peach, Plum, Pear" felt flexible and fresh, locking the songbird's twinkling harp into a matrix of banjo, violin and percussion from her backing musicians. And Newsom herself seemed pretty comfortable, quipping, "Those guys are actually assholes" after her band left the stage. She closed with "Sadie," performed solo like it was on Milk-Eyed Mender, when we first fell in love with her.

We asked: Tonight, Joanna Newsom did the solo harp thing, played with an orchestra and led a small band. What musical direction should she take next?

Name: Amir Yaghmai
Age: 31
Hometown: Santa Monica, CA
Occupation: Musician
"She should play with an Eastern European ensemble."

Name: Alex Lilly
Age: 25
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Ocupation: Musician
"It'd be awesome to hear her with a gamelan."

Name: Kerry Koda
Age: 33
Hometown: Encinitas, CA
Occupation: Teacher
"She should do more orchestral stuff!"

Name: Michael Cavanaugh
Age: 24
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Occupation: Filmmaker
"She should do whatever she wants to do."

Name: Colleen Cavanaugh Anthony
Age: 33
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Film researcher
"Joanna should write musicals."

Name: Chris McPherson
Age: 35
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Occupation: Photographer
"A little bit of hip-hop."

Name: Joel Manning
Age: 26
Hometown: Kauai, HI
Occupation: Actor/wunderkind
"She should score films."

Name: Amy Oliver
Age: 31
Hometown: Tallahassee, FL
Occupation: Music licensing coordinator
"I prefer her as a solo performer."

Accompanied by a 29-piece orchestra, Newsom plays to the Walt Disney Concert Hall / Photo by Carlie Armstrong

Newsom with drummer Neil Morgan / Photo by Carlie Armstrong