Storm Large mixes it up for her Philly show

Storm Large will put on a show at the Keswick.  Credit: Laura Domela Storm Large will put on a show at the Keswick.
Credit: Laura Domela

Storm Large will be making her Carnegie Hall debut when she sings with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra tonight. But it’s the edgier Philly-area show you don’t want to miss.

Large, who got her start on the CBS reality show “Rock Star: Supernova,” will be performing with the Storm Large Band at the Keswick Theater on Saturday. And it will be a totally different type of evening than what she’ll bring for a buttoned-up Carnegie Hall crowd.

“People have told me … what to do for a long time. I never listen. I do what I want to do and it has worked out,” she says. “Think of my performance as a ride in the back seat of a nice car. I pass through several boundaries and tickle the final boundary as long as I can.”

She’s planning a blend of original materials and covers, from the Pixies to Cole Porter, for the no-holds-barred, cabaret-style show.

Large is “more proper and wears a gown” for her regular appearances with the group Pink Martini, which plays classical and jazz music. On a recent break from touring with them, she filmed scenes with Geena Davis for an-as-yet-unnamed TNT series.

How’s that for mixing it up?

“The audience should not expect a band that simply plays music in a dark room. I talk to the audience. I get as raunchy as the audience lets me,” she says. “It’s like I am on a first date with the audience. I have to take the temperature of the room so I don’t know ahead of time how far I can go.”

Book club

Oprah chose Large’s memoir, “Crazy Enough,” as one of her Book of the Week selections. The musical version of “Crazy Enough” attracted sold-out crowds in Portland for months.