When one writes about music and live performances, one of the keys is to compare the artist to others that may be familiar to the reader. After Yann Tiersen's performance at The Orange Peel in Asheville on February 13, that’s a difficult task. Not too many acts compare to that of Yann and his five bandmates, who put on a splendid and professional show of music in front of an appreciative Sunday night crowd.

First a little bit about Yann Tiersen: He's a 40-year-old French composer and musician who reached some acclaim in the United States for contributions to the Amélie soundtrack in 2001. He also released an album called L'Absente in that same year which received rave reviews in Europe, thus 2001 was the year Yann received worldwide recognition.

He had classical musical training growing up, but was influenced heavily by 1980s alternative music. Yann's most recent CD release was in late 2010 (Dust Lane), and the musical result was what might have happened if Moby and Radiohead had a French lovechild.

Known for varied and sometimes unusual instruments and lots of electronics, Yann and the band offered The Orange Peel crowd a cacophony of sound in a set lasting just under an hour and a half. Some songs had no vocals, and most of those that did offered vocals as part of the overall sound and not something that was front and center in the music.

Olavur Jakupsson had more vocal input than anyone in the band, but Stephane Bouvier, Robin Allender, Lionel Laquerriere, and Yann all had vocal parts, often at the same time. Yann also played violin, guitar, mandolin, melodica, and synthesizer; Stephane played bass, melodica, and clarinet; Robin played guitar; Lionel played keyboards and ukulele; and Olavur manned a keyboard/synthesizer station. Backing the group with a solid beat all night was Neil Turpin.

The Asheville show was part of a U.S. and Canadian tour that began January 29 in Los Angles and ends March 11 back in Los Angeles. Hitting only about 30 cities, and most much larger than Asheville, it was a treat for Western North Carolina to have the show here.

Shannon Wright, who opened the show, played mostly songs from her album Secret Blood, which was released in late 2010. Having collaborated with Yann on an excellent album in 2004, fans thought Shannon might join Yann on stage, but she instead stuck to her minimalistic opening set that consisted of just her and her electric guitar.

Shannon reminds one of early 1990s indie rock female artists such as PJ Harvey, Juliana Hatfield, and Liz Phair. Without an accompanying band, though, and with little crowd interaction, Shannon sometimes struggled to connect with the audience. Talented and intense, Shannon took The Orange Peel crowd on a ten-song tour of her music.

When Yann and the band hit the stage, everyone in the crowd was quickly engaged (despite the fact that Yann didn't really interact with the crowd either). The wall of music coming from the stage was so intriguing that The Orange Peel patrons walked away with a musical experience they will long remember—even if they can't exactly describe it.