i was at the show

Bess Rogers, Lelia Broussard, & Jack Rabbits of the Yucatan Live @ Rockwood Music Hall

2010-01-10T21:00:00.030-05:00

So...a couple weeks ago, I went to check out Jenny Owen Youngs & Emily Wells at City Winery (you may have read something about that somewhere). Anyhoo...after the show, I had the chance to chat with Jenny and found out about this little something going on at Rockwood Music Hall, and how Bess Rogers would be playing, and how she is so awesome, and so I should go. So I went! Bess was supposed to go on at 9pm, but I got there a little early and caught the end of the preceding act. The AS-IS Ensemble...sounds like: some of the best jazz you've ever heard. seriously, cruise by their myspace and show them some love. It will be time well-spent.

Moving on. Rockwood Music Hall...is really like a smallish music room. It's a really nice room though. Actually, there are two rooms. One main room with the big, full bar where the stage is; and another room of equal size with a big screen t.v. so you can watch the music you're listening to if you didn't get there early enough to be in the other room. Also, the acoustics are stellar. If you can find a reason to go, please by all means, go.

So, Bess Rogers! Before this evening, I only had a peripheral knowledge of Bess Rogers and her musical oeuvre, as it were. I had seen her play with Jenny Owen Youngs once or twice, and thought that she was a guitarist who also happened to do back-up vocals. Nice girl. Cool hair. But wait! There's more! What I didn't realize was that she is a talented artist-singer-songwriter in her own right. I love it when people are full of good surprises. I did do a little homework on her myspace beforehand, so I was familiar with a couple of the songs she played (Bulldozer & I Don't Worry). Between songs she chatted with the band (Chris Kuffner on guitar, Dan Romer on keys, Allie Moss on backing vocals and gorgeous harmonies, and not one, but two drummers - Elliott Jacobson and Adam Christgau). She even told the story of her shiny new ukulele. Apparently, she got to go to the factory where they make them and pick it out when it was just a little "ukulele fetus" - a slab of wood; and they made her a ukulele from scratch! Then pause just long enough to launch into the next song. Everything To Lose, for instance.

The banter was fun and all, but Bess' voice was the real main attraction. She definitely gets my award for sweetest vocals of the evening. Bess' sound is something I didn't quite expect. She rocks , yes it's true, but when she sings her tone is so clear and so pure. It's like a bell ringing. And with assists on the tightly woven harmonies from Allie Moss and Chris Kuffner, it was the icing on the cake. She did also treat us to some tasty little nuggets of as-yet unrecorded goodness (she's releasing something new in the springtime...I've only heard two songs and I'm excited! It's that good). Hey look! Here's one now! Check it out:

Bess Rogers performing When You Lose @ Rockwood Music Hall

I also had the good fortune to catch up with Bess after the set...and by "catch up", I mean I hunted her down to get a copy of her latest EP. Aaaaaaaaannnnnd, she gave me a free sticker!

Next up was Lelia Broussard, whom I'd not only never heard, but never even heard of until I just happened to turn up at this show. Well, let's just say I'm glad I finally got caught up. My general first impression of Lelia Broussard is that she is all little and cute and plays guitar. If adorable British crooner Adele and alt. country/alt. rocker Bonnie Raitt had a baby, it would probably sound something like Leila Broussard. Yes, she plays a mean guitar. Yes, she rocks pretty frickin' hard. But this belies the fact that her voice has this guttural rip to it, and her vocal transitions from the very low to the very high are sublime and something that everyone should experience at least once in his/her lifetime. She was backed up by the ubiquitous Chris Kuffner on guitar, Elliott Jacobson on drums, and Dan Romer on keys. She even got Bess Romer back up on stage for a minute to help out with harmonies on one song...have a look-see:

Lelia Broussard performing Shoot For The Moon @ Rockwood Music Hall

She also has a wicked sense of humor as evidenced in her song Hipster Bitch - apparently, we share similar sentiments about hipsters and Williamsburg...Who knew? You can see some of that right here...

Last to take the stage was Jackrabbits Of The Yucatan. Now, if you paid attention in school, you'd know that in Elizabethan England (Shakespeare's time), Jackrabbits Of The Yucatan was often used as a colorful euphemism for Jenny Owen Youngs. Jenny was also supported on stage by Chris Kuffner on bass, Dan Romer on keys, and Elliott Jacobson & Adam Christgau on drums. What I love about this is that, even though each singer-songwriter-asskicker performing has her own voice and her own style, they all get together and support eachother like one big musical family. And everyone sounds awesome and leaves you with a unique impression. From an artistic/creative standpoint, it's kinda beautiful. Awww....hugs, everybody! But, I digress...As she was performing under an assumed name, it was only fitting that she perform covers...of some of her own classic hits. And for this, Jenny takes the award for best surprise of the evening. She opened with Nighty Night with an assist from Dan Romer breakin' it down on accordion (y'all know how I feel about accordians...and the men who play them). She did a mellowed out version of Secrets, a bossa nova version of Voice On Tape, and Clean Break got broken down. She also did some more standard-ish versions of some of my favorites. What Beats Within being one. Check it out:

Jenny Owen Youngs performing What Beats Within @ Rockwood Music Hall

I was also able to get some sweet cell phone video of Jenny & Co. performing Dissolve. It's one of my favorite tracks to see and hear her do live, and it was made all the awesomer with Dan Romer rounding out the sound on piano. Hope you like it, too!

Jenny Owen Youngs performing Dissolve @ Rockwood Music Hall.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Jenny's cover of Toadies' Possum Kingdom. Un-f*cking-believable! Rocked it! For this reason, Jenny also takes home the award for best Rock Hair of the evening. It jumps up and down. It swishes all around. It punctuates guitar licks. It is the stuff that rock legends and shampoo commercials are made of. And she didn't stop there. She did Transmitter Failure (which I always love), and ended her set with Start+Stop...which, I suppose, is a good place to stop. So, she did. Raucous applause all around. Aaannnnnd.....scene. See you at the next show!

p.s. for more videos from this show (and others) go check out my youtube channel here.

Jenny Owen Youngs & Emily Wells Live @ City Winery NYC

2010-01-02T22:00:00.051-05:00

She saw you, Levi...and she knows you Whooed.

I found out about this show via Jenny Owen Youngs' Tumblr blog as she was invited, eleventh-hour-style, to join Emily Wells performing at City Winery. Now, I'd never been to City Winery before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lemme fill you in so that, if you should happen to go there at some point (say, for instance, to see Beth Orton perform on 17th January), you will know what to expect. City Winery is, in fact a winery - well, they sell wine anyway. Unlike, say, The Knitting Factory which may have at some point been a knitting factory, but is currently not a factory of any kind. More than that, it is a winery/restaurant with a biggish stage on the back wall. It is beautifully lit, well-appointed, and has lots of tables and chairs that are not moved or rearranged in any way when there is a performance on the afore mentioned biggish stage. Seating is "cozy", so get to know your neighbors because if the place is packed with Jenny Owens Youngs and/or Emily Wells fans (as it just so happened to be on this particular evening), you will all be pretty much sitting in eachother's laps for the duration of the evening. Cozy. The wine is lovely. The food is nothing to write home about, but the accoustics are tremendous; so sit back with your wine and enjoy the show!

After some dramatic red velvet curtain parting, Jenny & Co. took to the stage and promptly commenced to tune their instruments...because, as Jenny told us, "...I care about you and I want the very best for you..." Soon thereafter, she kicked off the evening with If I Didn't Know. She seemed to be still finding her footing a bit with Led To The Sea, but finally hit her stride with the crowd pleaser, Drinking Song. Jenny then asked if there were any babies in the audience. After a few claps and shouts from the crowd, she concluded that there weren't any babies in the audience because, "...babies don't have the ability to clap like that." She seemed mostly concerned about babies in attendance because she thought that she might "...swear a lot accidentally...and then later, on purpose." Nice to know that Jenny's lookin' out for our best interests. Warm fuzzies. Thanks Jenny! All this while switching from electric to acoustic guitar ("Whoa! This is a totally different guitar! That's some Houdini-ass sh*t...") This little exchange was followed by Nighty Night (which, by the way, babies would have loved had there been any in the audience). Secrets was up next and was so kick-ass that i was a little saddened that my cozy seating situation wasn't a standing room only situation. It's definitely a get on your feet and sing along kind of a song. There was much singing along in the room, at any rate. See for yourself!

Jenny Owen Youngs performing Secrets live at City Winery NYC

Next up was no more words...and really, when you listen to the lyrics "I'm in the business of loving you 'til you choke," do you really need more words to describe Jenny's awesome lyrical genius? The answer to that is "No". You're welcome. Check it out.

Jenny Owen Youngs performing No More Words live at City Winery NYC

The highlight of the Jenny's set (well, one of many) was an as yet unheard rendition of Clean Break. Spec-f*cking-tacular!!! It was bigger and louder and ballsier than I've ever heard it performed before. Fun breaks, big guitar flourishes, well-timed drum solos, and fat bass slaps...This version needs to be mp3'd and put up on iTunes immediately! Jenny, can you hear me?!?! This new version of awesomeness from her current release, Transmitter Failure, could only be followed by the debut album awesomeness of F*ck Was I. So, um, that's what Jenny followed it with. Next up was the super fun of Last Person...if you've not yet seen the superfun official music video, you can check it out here. What makes this song so much fun live (well, everything with Jenny involved is fun live...) was that Jenny was joined only by drummer Elliott Jacobson and bassist Chris Kuffner, so when the chorus came around, it was pretty frickin' sweeeet that a big chunk of audience joined in to fill out the call-and-response parts. Hugs, everybody. That was nice.

Jenny slowed things down a bit next with Voice On Tape, where she switched it up a little and played the accompanying bass while Chris worked it out on guitar and backing vocal. ("Oh my God! Did we just trade instruments? I didn't even notice...ha!"...oh, Jenny!) Transmitter Failure, my personal favorite off the album of the same name, came next and definitely did not disappoint. Jenny really let loose and again I wished we were in a standing sort of venue instead of a seating-with-eating sort of venue (though Jenny threw out an "Enjoy the veal, everybody!" once or twice to some well-received laughter). Jenny closed out her set with the closing track from the album, Start + Stop. The song kicked ass. Jenny thoroughly kicked ass and a good time was had by all.

By this time, we were all well-prepared for Emily Wells to work her magic (Jenny Owen Youngs warned us that we may not be prepared for how hard we would be rocked, and how melted off our faces would be..."So that'll be fun..."). Emily began by...well, by having a bunch of guys move her table of magical musical delights and other things that plug in to the front of the stage. But right after that, Emily began with an a capella version of Patti LaBelle's If You Love Me...which was great for me because I grew up on that stuff, but I got the feeling that nobody else really got it. The lingering awkwardness in the air was immediately dissipated, however, when Emily busted out her violin and started McGyvering together sound loops to create her Symphony No. 1 In The Barrel Of A Gun (to raucous applause and great joy at the front table, I might add). For those already familiar with Emily's music, this was exactly what we had been waiting for. For the uninitiated, however, it was a new experience altogether. I loved looking around and watching the faces of people who either hadn't heard Emily before or hadn't seen her perform the music live as they realised they were watching her build each symphony one instrument at a time ("Oh shit! Is that a kid's toy microphone?!"). Equally as impressive as the sheer number of instruments and gadgets laid out on her table was that, apart from being just novel, some were simply unidentifiable. There are musical geniuses, and then there are musical geniuses. And then there is Emily Wells. Emily is on some other sh*t. Period.

But moving along...Symphony No. 1 was followed with Symphony No. 4 (America's Mercy War). Next up was something I was very excited about and a few people had no idea was coming. Emily Wells does a cover of Juicy by the late, great Notorious B.I.G. that is unlike anything you've ever heard. Admittedly, pretty much everything Emily does is unlike anything you've ever, but this is even more different than all of that...which says quite a bit, I think. She even dedicated the song to Lil' Kim...See for yourself!

Emily Wells performing Juicy (cover) live at City Winery in NYC

Symphony No. 6 (Fair Thee Well & The Requiem Mix) came up next. Fans in the crowd immediately recognised the beat and Emily encouraged them to get up and shake their asses...which they did. Good times! Next she started McGyvering for Symphony No. 9 & The Sunshine...apart from a small technical snafu, it was pretty awesome.

Emily Wells performing Symphony No. 9 & The Sunshine live at City Winery NYC

The high point of Emily's set came a few songs later, however, when she performed a new song: Give Ya Everything. Described by Emily as "...probably the closest I've ever gotten to writing a gospel song - I think my mom likes it 'cause I talk about God a little." It was a bit of a departure from the songs on her current album and very warmly received. With an artist like Emily, and a live show like the one she puts on, it's very rare that you get to see her really let loose. I mean, how could she when there are innumerable music cues to attend to and pressing the wrong button at the wrong time could derail an entire evening, not to mention a single song. But Give Ya Everything was that rare moment of her live show where it actually seemed she'd forgotten about the audience for a second and was just doing whatever felt right at the time. It was a breathtaking, put ya hands up, and say Amen kinda moment. The evening came to an end with Take It Easy New York, and an audience wishing that both Jenny and Emily would play just a little bit longer.

Luckily, neither performer was too shy to hang out post-show and rub elbows with us common folk. Jenny was nice enough to chit-chat for a minute and take pics with both yours truly and my new friend Levi. Shweeeet! And just as we were getting ready to leave, I managed to catch Emily's attention, and she was also nice enough to pose for a photo. So here are those...uh hem, I've edited myself out of the photos because, despite being the only one who wasn't drinking that night, I somehow managed to be sleepy-eyed and drunk-looking in every single one. Whatever! See you at the next show!

Corinne Bailey Rae Live @ Hiro Ballroom NYC

2009-12-07T08:00:00.068-05:00

When I found out that Corinne Bailey Rae would be performing at Joe's Pub in NYC, I waited in front of my laptop continuously clicking the refresh button at 1:59pm until tickets would go on sale the very next minute. Then the very next minute came...and the tickets were ALREADY SOLD OUT!!!! WTF?! I tried and tried and tried some more, but nothing was "available". I figured there must have been some overload on the ticket site, so I rang the box office. There were only about 20 or so tickets on sale, and they were already sold out. I was gutted! Positively crushed. Then, in a freak twist of fate, I checked my e-mail and found a Giant Step invite to another Corinne show at Hiro Ballroom - on sale that very minute, so naturally, I clicked away on that only to find those tickets sold out as well. After scouring the internet for other possibly soon tour dates to no avail (oh, and working at my job....I did that too for a bit that day as I recall), I felt compelled to click the Giant Step link one more time. AND LO! What should appear, but a payment verification screen...SCORE!!! Yay me! And yay YOU! 'Cause you get to read this blog and soak up some of Corinne's awesomeness (albeit vicariously) for yourself! Cheers!

So, Hiro Ballroom...for all you NYC peeps (or my loyal bloglodytes...) you already know what it's like. For the unannointed among you, Hiro Ballroom is located in Chelsea on 9th Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets, tucked away (almost hidden) below the Maritime Hotel and its environs. The space is decked out with dark woods and lots of pretty authentic and Fauxriental (Faux+Oriental) ornamentation, lanterns, dim lights, stage one foot off the floor....which is why I got there plenty early. Wouldn't want you kids to get stuck out in the cold with no photos from the show. That would just be wrong. I couldn't do that to you...you're too cute to disappoint...squeeeeeeeeeee...

Here's some happy news for those not lucky enough to be in attendance Monday night, the entire thing was filmed for broadcast on The Artists' Den. It's a PBS series that is now also broadcast on Hulu. YAY some more! But in the meantime, I have this whole blog thing, so let's see how that all shakes out, shall we?

So, Corinne Bailey Rae....deeeeeeeeeeeeeelightful, as you may have already guessed. After much camera adjusting and guitar tuning (there was one guy in a Spice Girls World Tour 2008 t-shirt tuning all the guitars, and I swear it seemed as if the guitars were multiplying whenever we looked away...so many, many guitars to tune before the show. *sigh*), the band finally filed onto the diminutive stage and were soon joined by the lady herself (to riotous applause, I might add). Corinne, just as sweet as she wanna be, came out in a royal blue jumpsuit with loose, drapey side pockets, gold ballet flats, and twice as much hair as the last time you saw her. She said her salutations to the audience ("New York, how're you doin' tonight?!"), and wasted no time in getting the show on the road. She opened with the dancetastic Are You Here and followed it up with Paris Nights/New York Mornings. Corinne accompanied herself on acoustic and electric guitar, and both songs were a departure from the easy-breezy sound of her eponymous debut album. And then she slowed things down with Love's On It's Way, and the old school soul feel of Closer. Seriously, I had an Earth Wind & Fire moment during that last one, and believe me when I say that you have never seen or heard Corinne let loose like the end of this song. Phillip Bailey-level goodness!

Corinne Bailey Rae - Closer (live) @ Hiro Ballroom NYC

Paper Dolls opens with a beat reminiscent of The Supremes' My World Is Empty Without You , Babe, and to be honest, it's adorable how much fun Corinne seems to be having with that tambourine! Corinne told of how she co-wrote the song with her friend and former Helen bandmate who is joining her on this tour. She explained their first band, Helen ("Maybe some of you have heard of it...probably very few. It's one of those things where you just had to be there...It was part of a very localized scene. We were pretty big in our scene..." and giggles all around). In anticipation of this show, I've been devouring reviews and photos from other appearances Corinne's been making lately, and they all seemed to be going out of their way to point out how her voice seems to have taken on a deeper tone and a more melancholic air since the very untimely passing of her husband, musician Jason Rae, in March of 2008. The fact that she has written and recorded an entire album full of new songs to release and is performing them live internationally less than two years later blows my mind and is a testament to the woman's own inner strength. That being said, I think a lot of those reviewers were projecting their own emotions onto what they were hearing. I didn't find her voice to be very melancholic at all. In fact, during I'd Do It All Again (and doesn't the title just say it all?), her voice soared and she had an enormous smile across her face nearly the entire song.

Corinne Bailey Rae - I'd Do It All Again (live) @Hiro Ballroom NYC

When she followed it with her debut single, Like A Star, however, it was definitely an emotional moment for the room. Juxtaposing two songs that could seem (at least, to an outsider) to be very much of a before and an after struck a chord with everyone in the room. The crowd sang along word for word (most notably the annoying guy standing behind my cousin and myself who insisted on bumping us with his arms and hands, practically resting his camera on my cousin's head to get a shot, and had no compunction about leaning all of his baggage against our legs for convenience - it should be no great surprise that he sang so loudly and so directly into our ears it seemed he was holding out the misguided hope that if he just sang out enough, Corinne would take notice and they'd be BFF's 4-eva...some people just have no sense of intimate concert decorum. Though I longed to hear more songs from her debut album, it made me grateful that the majority of the performance was songs from the forthcoming The Sea so that he could not sing the entire show slightly off key and directly into the back of my head. And if you're reading this, Sir...yes, I mean you. But I digress...). Like A Star was succeeded by Blackest Lily, which I would like to tell you about, but can't remember because her cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing came next and was off the chain! Corinne and her band began with some a capella cooing in the sweetest, liltingest harmony that you didn't see coming. Have a gander of this one on the video. It is (as ever) taken with my camera phone, but the sound quality is great and you are guaranteed some warm-fuzzies of your very own.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Little Wing (live) @Hiro Ballroom NYC

Diving For Hearts and the haunting I Would Like To Call It Beauty came on its heels. She closed out the set ("...well, maybe you'll be able to get us back out for a few more songs; but this is the official last song..." ;-]) with the title track, The Sea. Before she could begin, an eager fan thrust a gift towards the stage - a framed bit of something with a card attached ("Should I read it? I'm gonna read it...I won't read it out. Talk amongst yourselves for a minute"). It was the closest to shedding a tear that I saw her come the whole evening. She thanked the fan and set the frame down to sing the show's "official" closing number. Accompanying herself on autoharp, Corinne sang like a woman scanning the horizon for a husband lost at sea. All echoing tones and dark lyrics. When she departed the stage, the band just sort of stood around looking awkward awaiting her return for the inevitable (and already promised) encore...luckily, Corinne didn't keep us - or them - waiting more than a few moments. When the opening chords of Put Your Records On rang out, the crowd jump up and down and clapped and sang along en masse (one in particular directly into my ear...uh hemm). Being that the show was mainly new songs, I think the audience had been dying for a grasp at the more familiar...something we could all sing along to and feel a proper part of. We were not disappointed. The shows real close was with an updated version of Til It Happens To You. The guitar riffs were darker, funkier, and bluesier, as was Corinne's voice. At one point the beat switched up and got even deeper, and she let it all hang out. Like love on ya eardrum, people! It left us all wanting more, but after a performance like that, what else could there be to give? *sigh*

Corinne Bailey Rae - Til It Happens To You (live) partial @Hiro Ballroom NYC

She did mention, by the way, that she'd be back touring again in NYC in January and April, so keep your eyes open for tickets...and don't say I didn't warn you when you're five minutes late to ticket sales and find they're all sold out! Until next time, see you at the next show...

The Gossip @ Terminal 5 NYC

2009-10-10T07:27:00.002-04:00

Now, it must be said up front that Terminal 5 is a lovely venue. It's a bigger venue than The Gossip has ever played in NYC before. There's the stage level floor, the second floor with good balcony views of the whole stage and the crowd below, and the third floor which is much like the second, but with smoking permitted. And there are at least two well-stocked full-service bars on each floor. Terminal 5 is a lovely venue, and I hate it. I hate it for many reasons, but mostly because no matter what I do, I can't seem to get in with my camera because it's "professional" (even though my camera's almost 6 years old and now even the little point-and-shoot cameras that Terminal 5 staff does let in have more megapixels and zoom than my camera does). But that's just my own personal Heavy Cross...moving on!

Opening for The Gossip this evening were Apache Beat and MEN (fronted by LaTigre vet, J.D. Samson). The venue doors opened at 7pm, and when I arrived on the scene at 7:30pm-ish, Apache Beat was already tearing it up onstage. I can usually take or leave a lot of opening acts, but Apache had something else going on. They are a five piece ensemble with some really kick ass drums (courtesy of Neil Westgate) and bass lines (big ups to DosSantos). With Christina Aceto on synths and Phillip Aceto rounding it all out on guitar, it's obvious that these kids know how to have a good time. Lead singer, Ilirjana Alushaj is a bit manic but really knows how to belt it out. It's no wonder Gossip chose this band to get the crowd warmed up. Here's a little taste of what they had to offer captured on my trusty camera phone:

Apache Beat Live @ Terminal 5 in NYC

As for MEN, LeTigre veteran J.D. Samson's latest little something to do, it was a non-stop, hop up and down, pump your fist in the air, and make a silly face kinda good time. I think we wouldn't expect (or accept) anything less. With J.D. synths and sound boards with all the beats and special effects, Michael O'Neill on guitar, Ginger Takahashi on bass, and "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" hyping the crowd, it was a good way to get the blood pumping back to the feet ('cause three hours is a long time to wait in one spot for Beth Ditto to happen) and get the body dancing. I was gonna post a video snippet, but the sound wasn't so great and the picture was obscured by the very polite monolith of a man who slid in front of me at the last second...sorry guys. But no worries: On to the main attraction!!!

The Gossip took to the stage at precisely 10pm (I love a band that loves the fans enough not to keep us all waiting forever and ever). The show opened with track no. 1 off their new album, Music For Men. An as yet unnamed bass player (who we now know is none other than Chris Sutton - thank you Anonymous Commenter!) climbed onto stage first. Whoever he is, he worked it out at this show. Anyways...drummer Hannah Blilie was next to step on stage, and though I'm certain she was beloved before, I'm sure that her new status as the album's cover girl didn't hurt either. Guitarist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell stepped up and the two of them started the opening licks of Dimestore Diamond. Beth Ditto started singing from somewhere in the ether, and when she finally set foot on stage, the crowd went berserk...but quickly reigned themselves in so as not to miss a single second of Bethtastic vocal goodness. The band's universally loved frontwoman sported a new shorter 'do in Kool-Aid red or Sunkist orange (depending on the lighting), She wore form-fitting black, knee-length dress covered in silvery glitter sparkles that shimmered as she shimmied around the stage to the beat, giving the impression that Beth Ditto is not the centre of the universe, but the universe itself...and we mere mortals are all just playing at her game. Side note: all the video is shot on my camera phone (as usual), BUT my screen is broken, so I couldn't actually see what I was recording. I just had to hope I was pressing the right button to start and stop. Please forgive any Beth Ditto headlessness and try to focus on her awesomeness and the sublime sound quality.

The Gossip - Dimestore Diamond Live @Terminal 5 in NYC

Not a bad way to kick off a show! The Gossip covered old favorites like Your Mangled Heart

The Gossip - Your Mangled Heart Live @Terminal 5 in NYC

as well as the newest of the new album with 8th Wonder

The Gossip - 8th Wonder Live @Terminal 5 in NYC

And in between songs, Beth came with her trademark blend of down-home, big sisterly chit-chat with the audience. When one fan held up a photo of herself with Beth at another show, the singer took the photo ("I need a Sharpie! Who has a Sharpie!"), took a few minutes to write something sweet and passed it back to the fan. In another case, when security tried to break up an argument in the audience, Beth halted her song opening to settle the dispute (a guy had called some girls dirty c***s and wouldn't apologise even after Beth gave him the mic to do it, so she let security escort him out). At one point between songs, Beth was having a little tete-a-tete with drummer Hannah Blilie, and when the audience got impatient with waiting, Beth turned to the crowd and said, "Shhhhhh...Band meeting! Don't be rude, now!" Some of the shows other highlights included my favorite cut off the new album, Four Letter Word:

The Gossip - Four Letter Word Live @Terminal5 in NYC

And what Gossip show would be complete without a kick-ass cover song, right? Here's Beth & Co. doing it up during the "encore" to the Tina Turner classic, What's Love Got To Do With It. And yeah, after the main set was over, she came back out barefoot and with just her skivvies on! Love this girl!:

The Gossip - What's Love Got To Do With It Live @Terminal 5 in NYC

The show finally (for really-real) closed with the song that put Gossip on the map, Standing In The Way Of Control, but not before some more love from Beth to the fans. She shouted out one girl for her 26th birthday, and invited another fan, the UK's own DJ Lindsay, onstage to celebrate DJ's 50th Gossip show before launching into the song ("You can stand here, but it might get awkward..."). Oh, and the other thing I hate about Terminal 5? The barrier moat between the stage and the crowd for press photogs. Granted, I might feel differently if I was in the moat with my camera, but I think that is neither here nor there. The point is, it keeps the fans away from the artists, and keeps the artist away from the fans. And Beth (bless her little heart) was having none of it. During the song, Beth dropped herself into the moat and was helped by fans and security over the barrier so that she could walk through the audience belting it out, spreading love, and giving hugs to anyone who could lay a hand on her. For Beth, it seems, making music is not just about touching people, it's also about touching people...

The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control Live @Terminal 5 in NYC

And just because enough is never enough, Beth came back out for a minute afterwards to lead the crowd in a chorus of Queen's classic anthem We Are The Champions. Declarations of love were made. Warm-fuzzy feelings were had. And that, boys and girls, was The Gossip in NYC. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Gossip. Beth Ditto. Happy Warm Fuzzies. Rainbows. Unicorns. Hugs.

G'nite babies. See you at the next show!

Bat For Lashes @ Webster Hall NYC & Paradise Rock Club Boston

2009-08-13T22:00:00.055-04:00

I saw these two shows back to back. If you're not interested in why, skip to the next paragraph. If you find yourself curious, then here's why: Way back in April, I went to see Bat For Lashes throw down at a sold out show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Immediately following said show, I felt an urgent need to see Natasha & Co. throw down again...soon...urgent! The best I got was a glimmer of hope in some canceled Boston dates that Natasha said she'd try to make up for in early August some time. So I waited, and I bided my time. And then I saw my chance. In June, new tour dates were announced for Boston...and as far as I could tell, no one knew about it yet!! SCORE!!!! I facebooked all my relevant Boston peeps to see who might be down to see the show with me (it was a courtesy call, really...I would have been there with or without someone to keep me company). I bought a ticket. A friend I hadn't seen in 15 years bought a ticket. And I commenced to get really excited despite the two months between my ticket purchase and the actual show date. Then, some time end-of-June-beginning-of-July-ish, I got word that Bat For Lashes was coming back to perform in NYC again, this time at Webster Hall...the kicker: The NYC show was 12th August, and the Boston show (for which I already had a ticket) was 13th August, AND this was all in the week following my return to work from a month long work-holiday in Europe and the UK. Could I do it? Should I do it? Could I stop myself? The answers to these questions were: Yes. Yes. And No, respectively. I sent an emergency text to some of the NYC peeps who missed the last show because they didn't get in on it early enough. Tickets were purchased. Plans were made, and after having a great night out with Natasha and her friends and my friends in NYC, I took a half day from work to ride up to Boston and see Natasha work it out yet again. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!!!

So, because of the consecutive showings on the same leg of the same tour, rather than review each show on its own, I've decided to compare and contrast the two shows (with some added insight, of course). For the NYC show, the venue was Webster Hall. I love the old school, art deco style of the theatre, and I love the fact that it's a bit bigger than Bowery Ballroom, but doesn't lose any of the intimacy. For this particular show, however, there was a barrier set up in front of the stage leaving a big gap between the crowd and the band where the press photographers could come and go until after the headlining opening number. It was annoying because 1) even if you were standing at the barrier, some photog with a ginormous flash mount could step in front of you obscuring your view of Bat For Lashes awesomeness, and 2) once all the photogs are ushered out, there's a sort of moat separating you from the foot of the stage - what if Natasha wanted to reach out and touch people's hands and stuff? That coulda been you! Dammit barrier!!

The Boston show was at Paradise Rock Club. I'd never been there before, but as you walk in, you can see all the posters on the wall for the cool sh*t they've got going on (Emiliana Torrini, Zap Mama, School of Seven Bells...check'em out if you're in the Boston area). The venue is "cozy" and there's a giant column just a few feet from centre stage (and there was some poor person crammed behind it the whole show...). But they really pack the crowd in and the stage itself is quite low (only 3 or 4 feet off the ground), so you're really just all up in the show. For those that don't wish to jockey for position on the floor, there is also a non-VIP balcony area where you can see it all. So everybody wins (except for that poor person behind the column on the floor...sucker!).

The opening act on this leg of the tour is Other Lives, a band out of Oklahoma. And they ain't half bad. If you're not frightened off by lead singer Jesse Tabish's facial hair and general lack of grooming, you will find yourself in for quite a treat! Tabish, Josh Onstott, and Jonathon Mooney switch off amongst themselves for guitar, autoharp, violin, and piano duty while Colby Owens holds it all down on drums, and Jenny Hsu adds that touch of something special with her cello and backing vocals (and y'all know how I love the cello rock!). Their songs are bluesy rock and roll, with an atmospheric feel and a story to tell. Altogether, I found Other Lives to be a really good fit as an opener for Bat For Lashes.

Okay, here's what you came for: Bat For Lashes (with picturez b*tchez)!!! As for the set itself, if you like wolves and full moons, then this is the show for you! There was an enormous full moon-with-howling-wolf painted on the backdrop behind the stage, as well as a tapestry featuring full moons and wolves hanging across the front of the piano. In NYC, Natasha stepped on-stage in a shiny black bodysuit flecked with splatters of gold and fur-fringed tie-on sleeves, in her bare feet (if you caught her on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the previous night, you know exactly what I'm talking about). In Boston, the costuming was quite the opposite: a black boat-neck 3/4 sleeve top, pouffy white skirt, a thick black belt, white leopard printed leggings, and again bare feet. No ginormous wolf-and-moon tapestry as backdrop, but I get the impression that the stage at Paradise just wasn't big enough to fit it in. In any case, Natasha was lovely and adorable, and looked like she might hop off stage after the show to go vintage shopping with Zooey Deschanel. And then she started singing and we all lost our minds!

If it weren't for the fact that I could hear Natasha breathing and giggling and chatting to the crowd during and between songs, I might have suspected that all the vocals were pre-recorded. Natasha Khan turned in a pitch perfect performance of the most sublime vocal imagery ever let loose from a microphone. Both shows opened with the Two Suns biblical album Intro followed by Glass and Sleep Alone with it's primal, jungle dwelling bass and percussion thanks to Charlotte Hatherley (on bass, autoharp, percussion, backing vocals, balloon animals...you name it, this woman does it) and Sarah Jones (who I would still like to be be my best friend) on drums, percussion, and backing vocals. Giving the sets an otherworldly feel with the keyboard arrangements and seemingly random ambient noises and samples is the ever present Ben Christophers. Horse & I - one of my all time favorite tracks - followed to raucous applause...tho in Boston, there was a bit of a giggly false start from Natasha on this one (check out the video at the bottom). The set lists for the two shows did diverge a bit. Some songs swapped places with others. Some appearing at one show, but not at the next (they skipped out Sad Eyes completely at the Boston show). If it can even be conceived that anything could surpass the recorded version of Siren Song, the live version is a world changing experience. It starts off slow and quiet, adding layer upon layer of sound until you find yourself caught in the centre of a sonic storm so powerful you're not sure if the walls will hold. Two Planets is another song in the live repertoire that may just make you believe (as I do) that Sarah Jones is the best drummer in the history of EVER. The thundering drums and Natasha's raw energy on stage make your tingles tingle. And for the record, I don't understand people who go to concerts and don't dance. Who are these people and why do they even bother to leave their hovels to come and take up dance space at shows I go see? In Boston, the set "ended" with Pearl's Dream; in NYC the "ending" was a sparser version of Prescilla with Natasha alone on stage and accompanying herself on harpsichord. The Boston "encore" started with this same lonely version of Prescilla and the crowd was so moved by the performance, spontaneous hand-clap percussion erupted in pockets of the audience while Natasha sang, in hommage to the album version. It was a very warm and fuzzy moment for all, and Natasha paused a moment to look up in the direction of the claps and give a smile before continuing on. Back in NYC, the "encore" of Moon & Moon elicited a manic shout of "YOU'RE AMAZING!!!" from somewhere in the crowd, which in turn elicited an equally spastic response of "THANK YOU!!!" from Natasha before starting the song.

The last song for both shows was Daniel. Not a bad way to end a show, really. The band going crazy on-stage, Natasha singing, dancing, and smiling like a Make A Wish kid at Disneyland, and the entire room jumping up and down, dancing, and vibrating to the music. Yeah, I can think of worse ways to spend an evening (or two). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want to be Natasha Khan when I grow up. And when I'm all grown up and Natasha Khan, I want Sarah Jones to be my very best friend! I'll even listen to all of those "When-I-was-On-Tour" stories for the thousandth time, and do so with a smile on my face and a (Bat For Lashes) song in my heart. And even though I know what's coming next, I will try to give all of my responses as unstudied an air as possible. Honest! I promise, Sarah! Call me!...*sigh* Do not, I repeat: DO NOT miss this show if it comes to your city!!!

In the meantime, here are some vids i recorded on my cellphone...the images may not be the bestest of the best, but i promise the sound quality is so good y'all!

Bat For Lashes performing Intro/Glass Live @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston

Bat For Lashes performing Horse & I @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston

Bat For Lashes performing Trophy @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston

Bat For Lashes performing Moon & Moon @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston

Bat For Lashes performing Two Planets @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston

Click Here to see all the photos from these shows...

See you at the next show babies...

Jenny Owen Youngs @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2009-05-27T20:00:00.028-04:00

I came to see Jenny Owen Youngs, but the other bands kicked a lot of ass in their own rights. The show opened with a band called These United States. These boys are fun Fun FUN!!! they opened their set with some monster guitars and killer bass, and followed immediately with the most kick ass drums I've heard all year on such a modest set-up. The music is kinda bluesy, kinda rock & roll-ish, 100% kick ass with a side of down home goodness and foot stomping. Let me put it like this, if the new season of True Blood on HBO opened with These United States playing in a bar on the bayou and followed with vampiric goodness and mayhem, I wouldn't be a bit surprised; and these fellas would not be a bit out of place. Usually, an opening act is pretty good, but you'd much rather be watching/listening to whatever band you really came to see. In this case, when the boys announced their last song, the entire room was all, "Nooooooooooooo!!!...but we do want to see Jenny. But still...Noooooooooooooooo!!!" For those that have only heard them, I must point out that bass player, Mark Charles, is one of the best dressed men in music right now. Period. Also, front man, Jesse Elliott, is the sweatingest man in music, and that is a fact. This man sweated more than all the other performers in all the other acts combined. He took one for the team. He was sweating on everyone's behalf. Seriously, I was in the front with my camera praying that he wouldn't shake his head in my direction. Sweat dripping from his guitar! Rounding out the foursome is J. Tom Hnatow who was wicked on the steel guitar and slide, David Strackany who worked it out on electric guitar, and drummer Robby Cosenza (who played nearly the entire set with his eyes closed - love this guy!). But I digress...please find their myspace and show them some love.

Jenny stepped up next. To say that Jenny Owen Youngs is extremely talented would be an understatement at the very least. Of course, when talking about her spectacular new cd, Transmitter Failure, she, herself, would probably be more likely to tell you that "...the packaging is beautiful! The music's okay..." Jenny rocked, rolled, folk'd,and joked her way through a nearly hour-long set, playing mostly new songs with a few solid assists from the first album. The show opener, Voice On Tape (from Jenny's debut, Batten The Hatches), got a huge crowd response...followed by an almost solemn hush as everyone leaned in and listened intently. The live version does not pale in the least to the album version with recorded voicemail snippets from Jenny's old college chum, Regina Spektor. Jenny was joined on this leg of the tour by Dan Romer on guitar, Chris Kuffner on bass, Elliott Jacobson on drums, and someone whom Jenny described as "...Destroyer of worlds, breaker of hearts, and my favorite part of the band Tegan & Sara...", Bess Rogers on guitar. Since the new album was just released officially the day before this show, the new songs were a pleasant and very welcome surprise to nearly everyone in the room. The driving force behind newer songs like Led To The Sea, Dissolve, and Clean Break definitely left a stamp of "Mission Accomplished" on Jenny's mission while writing and recording the album, which was to bring a collection of songs that would be more fun to perform live. They got the crowd moving, head nodding, dancing to the beat, and singing along to the chorus after not too long. Nods to Batten The Hatches were the afore mentioned Voice On Tape, Drinking Song, and everyone's favorite, F*ck Was I. My personal favorite off the new album performed during the show was the title track, Transmitter Failure which, in my opinion, is the most melodically beautiful song Jenny's recorded so far. This is no small feat from a woman who can make you sing the words "What the f*ck was I thinking..." absentmindedly in a room full of small children before you catch yourself and look around to see if anybody heard you (I'm not saying it's happened to me, but I'm not saying it hasn't either...). Catchy melody is clearly her thang! Transmitter Failure (the song and the album) has so many layers. Performed live it is stripped down to its bare essentials and it is after the big, thrashy guitar opening comes to an abrupt halt that you have to hold your breath so you don't miss out on Jenny softly singing the verses and chorus. By the time the end of the song comes around and the guitars and drums are going at full force again while Jenny sings serenely over the entire arrangement, you're not ready for it all to dissolve into the near silence of the last lone note. It's a breathtaking performance live, and its only improvement on the recorded version is the addition of a string quartet to round out the lushness of the sound. Beautiful. She followed this up with a lovely rendition of Nighty Night, and finished big and raucously loud with Last Person. The only thing that could have made this a better show would have been if Jenny closed the show instead of being sandwiched between These United States and Jukebox The Ghost. There's really no room for name chanting and encore songs when another band is waiting to go on stage....*sigh*

If you told me that Jukebox the Ghost was the mastermind behind the vampire puppet opera in the film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", I would totally believe you. The movie's leading man, Jason Segel, keeps insisting that he actually wrote all of those songs though, so you'll just have to check out Jukebox the Ghost live in concert to see why I'm drawing parallels between that film and this music. Pretty much every song they played sounded like something from some gothic puppet opera. This was helped along by the chatty lead-ins to the songs ("This one is about what the world is like if you're coming from underground after the apocalypse and seeing the planet again for the first time..."). The harmonies are sublime. The falsettos are BeeGees-era goodness. This is a live show you don't want to miss.

Here's a clip of Jenny performing "If I Didn't Know" live at the show.

And here's Jenny performing "F*ck Was I" live at the show...enjoy!

See you at the next show...

Thao Nguyen with The Get Down, Stay Down @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2009-05-14T20:00:00.021-04:00

Having seen Thao Nguyen once already on the Hotel Cafe Tour with Rachael Yamagata, I was pretty excited to hear she'd be headlining a show of her own in NYC. She is one of the most fun people to watch perform. I was even more excited when I arrived at the Bowery Ballroom and realised that Samantha Crain would be one of the opening acts. I'd seen Samantha and her band on the Hotel Cafe Tour as well and she is full of adorable, wise cracking, blue-grassing fun.

Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers opened the show with their special blend of blues, blue grass, and folk rock. Their set was full of energy and Samantha's unmistakable charm. At one point, she asked if there were any famous people in the audience and had the house lights put up so that she could take a look. Specifically, she asked if America Ferrera was in the audience. Samantha invites America Ferrera to all of her shows in the hope that they will be able to take a picture together and pretend to be sisters...I'm sure she was only half joking when she said this. I mean, if you saw the two of them together, you would totally think they were related...

Next up was Sister Suvi. This band of three was made all the more amusing by the fact that its lead singer played a child's toy guitar with an amp lead taped on for the majority of the set (she also played bass on a couple of numbers). Sister Suvi's indie rock-ness made sense as a show filler on this tour, but it was definitely more in the vein of thrashing guitars and shouting/screaming than Samantha and Thao's skillful guitar plucking and thoughtful lyrics and singing. The biggest hinderance to Sister Suvi's cause was actually the very same toy guitar that made them so endearing. Being a tiny toy thing without a strap, it was necessary for the band's frontwoman to play the instrument while resting it on her chest; but since the toy was already mic'd, its close proximity to the vocal mic gave it twice the volume, drowning out the singer for the better part of the set. The overkill on the twangy toy guitar made Sister Suvi an awkward stage filler to follow Samantha Crain, but also served to make Thao Nguyen's appearance all the more welcome.

When Thao finally took to the stage at 11pm-ish, the room went electric with the energy of the crowd. She was exuberant and amazing to watch as she played guitar and navigated her way about the stage. This is a girl bursting at the seams with talent (all self-taught, by the way). Her stage presence gives off more energy than cold fusion. She was matched word for word by the fans on nearly every song she sang during the evening. She opened Bag of Hammers with a surprise a capella beatbox before the guitar riff kicked in. Skills. Mad skills. At one point, she even pulled out a fat magic marker and used that to strum the guitar strings while she sang. I'm not sure how she can pluck guitar strings with such precision and dance, jitter, and vibrate all at the same time without missing a beat or mangling a chord. Seriously, if she were a little more depressing, I think her guitar skills would draw a lot of comparisons to golden boy, John Mayer. But her songs are so infectiously upbeat (even the ones about loser boyfriends who may be just keeping you around for sex - Body) and so damned catchy that one can't help but sing along after hearing the hook just once. The truth is, Thao is a blues guitarist wrapped up in a pop singing, girlie dress wearing, dancing whirligig of a package. Even in the songs about love and loss, Thao doesn't make you want to cry. She makes you want to shout out and sing along at the top of your lungs. Oh, and she also happens to be mad cool. She even posed for a photo with me after the show...Shweeeeeet!!! Bottom line: Thao Nguyen is one to watch. Don't miss out on her live show if she comes to your area.

Here's a snippet of Thao performing 'Bag of Hammers' live at Bowery Ballroom...Please go see her live show. And BUY HER RECORDS!!!

Thao performing 'Body In Your Bed' live at Bowery Ballroom...run by her MySpace and show her some love y'all.

Janelle Monae @ Hudson Hotel NYC for Charity Water Benefit

2009-05-12T08:00:00.034-04:00

My first glimpse of Janelle was back in 2006 when Outkast dropped their video for Morris Brown off the Idlewild soundtrack. In a video filled with singing walls, Coney Island-style amusement park hijinks, and a fuschia colored talking dog, one question kept repeating itself over and over in my mind: Who is that girl?! A year or so later, I got hooked on a singer named Janelle Monae when I heard her song Lettin' Go on internet radio. Fast forward to the summer of 2008 and I begin to connect the dots, and my question is finally answered. The Many Moons video/mini-movie event flickered across my screen and I jumped up, pointing to the monitor. That's who she is! That's that girl from that Outkast video! That's Janelle Monae!

To celebrate the opening of Private Park, Hudson Luxury Hotel's outdoor event space, the hotel teamed up with GIANT STEP and Charity Water (a non-profit organisation that brings clean drinking water and digs wells in 14 of the poorest countries on the planet) to present an intimate performance by Janelle Monae. The crowd was atwitter with excitement, and tingling from an open bar, a very attentive wait staff, and music on the ones and two's by DJ Ge-Ology. Almost everyone I spoke with had never seen Janelle perform live before, but they'd all seemed to have heard great tales about what to expect. When Miss Monae finally took to the stage in a pompadour hairdo and her signature saddle shoes for a set that was all of twenty minutes long, her adoring public thought that they were more than ready for it. The truth is there is nothing that can prepare you for the Janelle Monae experience.

Accompanied on the tiny stage by drummer Young Pete and guitarist Kellindo (yes, that dude from the Many Moons video that looks like the love child of Kat Williams and Andre 3000 is real and his guitar skills are even realer), Janelle opened the set with Violet Stars Happy Hunting and wasted no time in whipping the crowd (and herself) into a frenzy. After about 30 seconds, you really do start to believe that she may actually be that "alien from outerspace" that she sings about on her EP, Metropolis: The Chase Suite. Following up with her smash single, Many Moons, the artist jittered, twitched, and danced on and around the stage like some kind of hyperkinetic energy source from the future; all the while interacting with the sea of rabid fans and cameras aimed in her direction from the foot of the stage. There was a brief pause while Janelle gathered herself, and Kellindo did his thang, his skills giving the impression that you can style yourself however you want as long as you can do that on a guitar! When she returned to the stage a few moments later, Janelle climbed atop a 3-foot tall stool and calmly, serenely sang her rendition of the 1936 Charlie Chaplin composition, Smile, to a hushed and riveted audience. Though songs like Many Moons and Sincerely Jane are often the performances that are most talked about the next day, Smile is that segment of the evening where Janelle Monae's sheer vocal skill and purity of tone are showcased to perfection. Following up with Sincerely Jane and a punk-style explosion of guitar riffs, Janelle used the heads of two fans (one of which was yours truly) to launch herself out into the crowd. She was very happily passed overhead around the space and redeposited onstage where she did some riffing of her own. And then, as quickly and suddenly as it all began, the show had come to an all to soon end. The audience held their positions, awed into a silent shock and disbelief until the evening's promoter took to the mic and announced, "No, really. It's over. Good night. No, really. Good night."

The conclusion, Metropolis is not enough songs. Janelle needs to put out a full length album so that her fans can have a full length show.

Here's Janelle's performance of Many Moons recorded on my crappy cell phone camera...Enjoy!

See you at the next show...

Adele @ Orpheum Theatre - Boston

2009-05-02T20:00:00.023-04:00

Okay, first a little about the venue. The Orpheum is a lovely old Boston stand-by. Built in 1852, it still encompasses all of the old world charm and coziness (a bit too cozy...a little leg room wouldn't hurt) of its myriad ornate architectural details. Larger than smaller, standing room only venues (say Webster Hall or Bowery Ballroom, for example), but smaller than so many of the larger arenas (think Madison Square Garden or Fleet Center), it’s one of those theatres that makes you feel like you’re a part of the show even when you’re in the last row of the balcony. And to have all those old wooden timbers vibrating with the sound of Adele’s stunning voice, a voice that belies her tender years, and still be able to see the facial expressions of the angel that emits such heavenly tones, is simply soul stirring.

To say that Adele Adkins is incredibly talented would be an understatement. It would also be doing the nearly 21 year old songstress (her birthday is this coming Tuesday) a bit of a disservice. To say that she is a great talent completely brushes aside the tremendous amount of skill this young woman possesses. The live recording portion of her debut album, 19, almost does her justice...but not quite. From the opening notes of her first song of the evening, Adele’s voice reaches out and pulls your heart right into your throat. If you were chatting with your neighbor, you’d have fallen silent. If you were sending out that last minute text message, you’d have dropped your i-phone at your feet. If you were breathing, you’d have held your breath if she didn’t already take it straight away already.

The opening act was a "boy band" (an actual band, mind you. they all played instruments and sang) called The Script. The music was the kind of upbeat, hopeful pop that can only be created in the UK. The kind of song you might hear on television shows like The Hills or Ghost Whisperer (in fact, that's probably where you already have heard their music). Not really my thing, but they are Irish which goes a long way with a Boston crowd. They were exuberant, cursing adorably with their Irish accents. However, I'm not sure how I feel about them opening for Adele, as the two artists' musical styles don't really seem to have much to do with one another. But enough of this. On to the show...

Adele took the stage in a pair of fitted black jeans, a loose black knit top, a flowing black cardigan, and black ballet flats (are you seeing a theme here?). She apologised saying that she was going to wear a cute little dress and have her hair done and all of that...but she just didn't feel like it. By her own admission, Adele spent most of her day "smokin' like a chimney", and followed that on-stage with drinking Coke, which, she said, made her throat burn and her voice a bit "croaky"...so she asked the audience to bear with her. It was an unnecessary disclaimer. Her performance was unmistakably on-point. The young lady with the golden voice brought a down-to-earth charm and effortlessness to what could have been diva-esque turn after four Grammy nominations and two wins. Between songs, she chatted to the audience about how ridiculously expensive Whole Foods is ("I'm not doin' too bad for money these days, but that one would send me bankrupt! I hear Americans call it Whole Paycheck! Ha!") and about perfoming My Same for the first time on this leg of the tour because it was written about her best friend who is no longer her best friend ("Who wants to sing a song about somebody they hate?!"). She also broke into a spontaneous chorus of Since You've Been Gone when she heard that Kelly Clarkson was in the audience. She even stopped for a moment to give a fan a hug after he presented her with her first birthday gift ("I'm not supposed to open it 'til Tuesday..."), and brought up the house lights so she could take a photo fo the attending crowd. Positively adorable, affable, unforgettable.

This between belting out songs like First Love and Melt My Heart To Stone, and covers of Sam Cooke's That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On and a beautifully rendered version of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love. All this and she's only just nearly 21 years old!! Let's all just close our eyes and imagine what the future holds...and hope that includes more recordings for Adele, and more of Adele's concerts for all of us.

Oh wait! Nearly forgot! After the show, as I'm walking out the Orpheum entrance past the row of ginormous tour buses parked all in a row, and lo, what should I see before me but a small crowd formed around a very generous and jovial Adele signign autographs and taking photos with every fan who asked (Yeah, I got my ticket signed, too! What?!). Adorable. Affable. Unforgettable. Adele.

See you at the next show...

Bat For Lashes @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2009-04-30T20:00:00.033-04:00

Natasha Khan is a force. This sounds completely cliche until you actually see Bat For Lashes perform live, and then you walk out of the Bowery Ballroom thinking, "Natasha Khan is a force!" The show started late. Late like the opening act (Lewis & Clark) that was supposed to start at 8:30pm took to the stage at about 9:30pm-ish. Lewis & Clark was actually quite a good time: Low key ballads mostly (five of them. every last one...a waltz. curious). Lovely, really. But the tardiness of an opening act can only herald the even tardier-ness of the main attraction. And once you're crammed up against the stage, there's really not much wiggle room in your psyche for waiting around. You want Bat For Lashes, and you want Bat For Lashes now.

When Bat For Lashes took to the stage, the crowd went bananas. And understandably so. Natasha came out in a leopard print tank top, dark chocolate, skin tight pants with some sort of reptile texture to them, black knee-high boots, ruffled lace collar with matching fingerless gloves, and her signature sparkle of make-up around the eyes. Few women could pull off an outfit like that, but Natasha slipped into it like a second skin. In a backhanded compliment sort of way, listening to a Bat For Lashes album on constant repeat is a superb music-listening experience (I’ve done the research on this one; it’s 100% true), but pales greatly in comparison to seeing her perform live. The live show is positively transformative. If you heard one of her cd’s (Fur & Gold or Two Suns), and thought, “Hey, that’s pretty good. Yeah, I’d go see her live,” then by the time she hits song number three on the set list, you will be a fully converted Natasha Khan acolyte. The funny thing is, there’s nothing all that spectacular about the show itself. Natasha is not a larger than life idol sort. She sort of wanders onto the stage in the unassuming manner of a back-up vocalist. The only difference being that she takes center stage instead of hugging the periphery. She’s a lithe, slight sort of girl. Her make-up is fun and creative, but by no means over the top for someone headlining a sold out show. She moves to the music and is genuinely moved by her own expression and the crowd response, but there are no hysterical theatrics. She doesn’t roll around on the floor or dive from the stage into the awaiting arms of her rabid fans. Since there are none of the usual “underground-come-indie rock phenom” antics, there can only be one reason that the show is so powerful. That reason is Natasha herself. Her voice. Her songs. Her creative vision. Natasha Khan is Bat For Lashes. Put it this way: I’m pretty sure she’s a couple years my junior, but I still want to be her when I grow up.

Apart from the clear purity in vocal tone that really just isn’t done justice on the record, the other facet of the live show that doesn't come across quite as strongly on the recording is how powerful the drums are. I want to be Natasha…but I want her drummer to be my best friend. That girl kicks ass! As well she should. Sarah Jones, of New Young Pony Club fame, definitely knows her way around a drum kit. She made being at the show akin to standing at the center of a thunder storm amidst a severe weather alert.

The towering sound of the drums completely envelops you. Add Sarah's backing vocals and it makes the faerie land created by Natasha's writing and singing all the more complete.

With Ben Christophers on keys and Charlotte Hatherley on...well, on everything else (autoharp, bass, guitar, percussion, accordion, keys and backing vocals - take your pick), the entire show was like being lost in some enchanted forest at night.

From the lead-off of Two Suns' first track, Glass, opening the show, two different versions of Daniel (a paired down version accompanied by the autoharp and the big, synth-heavy album version), and crowd moving favorites Sarah, Prescilla, and Horse & I, it's difficult to pick out the high points of a show that really had no lows. They pretty much started at OHMYGOD!!! and kept it steady there for the rest of the performance. Take a gander at the set list...

The word on the street: go see Bat For Lashes on tour now because the next time they come around it may be at a much bigger, less intimate venue, and cost you three times as much. Besides, you want to be able to tell your friends you knew Bat For Lashes was cool before everyone else did.

Here's a little snippet of Horse & I so you can see what you missed...

Staceyann Chin @ Barnes & Noble Union Sq. NYC

2009-04-14T19:00:00.003-04:00

This past week, I was fortunate enough to have yet another opportunity to see world renown poet/spoken word artist/writer/activist Staceyann Chin. This time was a little different though. This time, instead of performing her volatile mix of powerfully stirring activist poetry and inwardly conscious and very personal spoken word (okay, okay...there was still a little bit of that, too), Staceyann was reading excerpts from her newly published memoir, "The Other Side Of Paradise", about growing up parentless, bi-racial, and gay in Jamaica.

book cover photo by Tomas Rodriguez

Staceyann took to the stage and admitted to being a little bewildered at the difference between performing poetry to a poetry-loving audience and reading excerpts from a book that you really hope people will buy. As she mentioned more than once during the evening, it is amazing that Barnes & Noble is celebrating a Black, Asian, lesbian, woman poet with a book reading and signing...and if you want to see more of this type of thing, you need to buy this book and show them that their support is not misplaced. After getting settled, Staceyann opened with a short poem, Haiku On Turning 30: "Look at me. Writing poems. Lobbying to make boobs sexy when they sag." She followed by reading some excerpts from her memoir. One about self discovery that ended a bit tragically and could have taken a very bad turn if not for the poet's winning sense of humor. The other a taste of the heartbreak she felt upon meeting her father for the first time in her teens. She followed with a question and answer session, fielding topics ranging from "What advice do you have for an aspiring writer?" to "What kind of women are you into?" She answered with all the deft aplomb and quick wit that one would expect from a Def Poetry Jam alumnus. After staying to sign books, shake hands, and chat briefly with her admirers, Stacey ajourned to Bar13 for the afterparty which featured some words from Vivette Miller, Gloria Bigelow, and Tiona McClodden among others, as well as Staceyann herself. With music spun by Deejay Reborn on the one's and two's, a good time was definitely had by all.

On the written page (as in her live performance), Staceyann has unique ability to be heartbreakingly, startlingly honest, deeply dramatic and serious, and then turn it all around and laugh at herself in the same sentence. Because she so often lays bare some of the most intimate details of her life on the stage, the idea that there is still enough yet unsaid to fill an entire book may be quite a surprise to some. But for Staceyann and countless others who have grown up with Jamaican sands beneath their feet, being gay is not only frowned upon, it is illegal. It is dangerous. Much too often, it can be deadly. And though this has informed a large part of who Staceyann Chin is as a person and as a poet, she does not let it define her. Not on stage. And not in this memoir. Just as the little girl on the book's cover stands at once defiant and hopeful, so stand the stories told between its leaves. After all, one does not start out life, in any place, as an outspoken lesbian activist and poet. There are a lot of steps that fill the space between the choices made for us in childhood and the choices that we make for ourselves as adults. Staceyann gives us leave to poke our heads through the windows to her past to see what kind of a girl she was, what kind of a life she lived, and what kind of circumstances and happenstances led her to her current vocation (poetry) and her current location (Brooklyn, New York). It may not be all holiday, but it's most definitely a trip that I recommend we all take. If you are a woman. If you are gay. If you were an orphaned child. If you grew up poor. You need to read this book and see a side of yourself that you don't often expose to the light, and rise up and embrace your struggles. If you are none of these things, you need to read this book and try to experience life from someone else's point of view so that you can look upon your fellow human beings as human beings and not just a collective "THEM" over there. As illustrated in the title of Staceyann Chin's memoir, there is another side to paradise...but it is still paradise! So you'll want to check it out!

Emiliana Torrini @ Hiro Ballroom NYC

2009-03-28T20:00:00.017-04:00

So, Hiro Ballroom. I'd never actually been there before, but it's a really cute spot! Hidden underneath the Maritime Hotel on 9th Ave. and W. 16th St., entering has the feeling of descending down into a Japanese speakeasy. The space is bedecked with low light, lanterns, and random Japanese script strewn about. It kind of feels like an old world floating ramen shop. The stage is all of 12 inches off the ground, so be sure to get there early to stake out your spot 'cause if someone's tall, monolith of a boyfriend is standing in front of you, you're pretty much screwed. That being said, I felt almost guilty standing up in front with my camera as i was flanked on both sides by some of the tiniest women I've ever seen en masse. Seriously, none of these girls could have been over 5 feet tall. Also, there was one awesome 8-year-old in a red polka dot skirt and star-covered tights who was one of the highlights of my evening (btw, I don't know what kind of connections this kid had, but she got to go backstage and meet Emilana after the show! She even drew a picture to give to Emiliana...how precious is that? Seriously). Now, on to the show!

Let's get the inevitable comparisons to Bjork out of the way now. There's something about Icelanders that will always bear some resemblance to the country's most famous pop/alternative export, Bjork. For those that have never heard of Emiliana Torrini until now (or think they haven't), she's the one who did that hauntingly beautiful rendition of Golum's Song for the Lord Of The Rings film that played during the end credits. You know, that song you were positive was Bjork? Yeah, that was Emiliana. And there really is a quality to her voice that is Bjork-like, but more to the point, uniquely Icelandic. Icelanders can cram more emotion into a single note than singers from other places. More imporantly, Icelanders have the ability to convey joy through song more truthfully, more vividly than musicians/singers from anywhere else on the planet (at least that I've heard anyway). But where Bjork's voice is always simmering on the edge of an explosion, Emiliana's voice is past all that tension and lets out a big sigh of relief. Her voice is powerful, but so serene...If you close your eyes while listening to her sing, it feels like your flying or floating...or riding your bike on a breezy, early summer afternoon...or floating on your back in the middle of a lake with the sun full on your face. It's that good. Really. The saddest part of the night was that she didn't perform any songs from her debut album, Love In The Time Of Science, because she really, truly didn't think anyone had heard it. She was more than a little bit surprised to hear people from the crowd shouting out requests from said debut ("Fingertips!", "Tuna Fish!") at every in-between song space during the evening. "Unemployed In Summertime" is a personal favorite of mine...

Perhaps the thing that makes the show so moving is that as lost in the songs as the crowd gets, Emiliana gets just as lost. It might almost seem as though she'd forgotten about the audience altogether if it weren't for the fact that the stage is only 12 inches off the floor and she could probably feel us all breathing on her. Watching Emiliana perform, it's nearly impossible to not to vibrate off the floor with glee. She pauses between songs to chat with the band in Icelandic ("Haha! Secret code language!"), sip a Corona, and tell stories about her friends who all seem to think that the songs are about them...except for the ones that the songs are actually about. They just think they're really great songs. The breaks are just as much for the band to re-tune or switch instruments as they are to give the crowd a chance to chat and marvel over how amazing and sweet Emiliana is (and to just stop and let out its collective breath after having held it for the length of the last song). But I digress...When she launches into the next song, even the quietest song, it's with a level of intensity that makes the audience crane forward in unison in the hope that reaching physically forward will get them just a little bit deeper into the music; only to realise just how close they already are to Emiliana, and pull back just just enough to give her room to keep working and casting her spell over them all.

In short, if Emiliana Torrini is performing anywhere close to where you live, you need to do whatever it is you need to do to go and see her happen. You will not be disappointed.

Stay Tuned....

2009-02-10T10:14:00.011-05:00

Hey kiddies!

I know it's been at least a month since the last show, but keep your eyes peeled. Upcoming shows include:

Bat For Lashes,

Emiliana Torrini,

Adele,

Thao and the Get Up, Stand Up featuring Thao Nguyen,

and Jenny Owen Youngs,

It's gonna be a good time!

NJ Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka and 'Get Your War On' creator David Rees at Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn

2009-01-22T19:00:00.003-05:00

Hello all! I was hangin' out at my favorite political humour site, Get Your War On , and was dismayed to discover that, as of 20th January 2009, there would be no more new Get Your War On cartoons. Creator David Rees explains, very sensibly, that the online comic megaforce was a direct reaction to Former President Bush's War On Terror. Now that Barack Obama has officially ascended to the United States Presidency (Thank Gawd!!!), he can move on and do something else (if anyone has any ideas, please let David know immediately as he's getting those funny looks from his wife and parents now). I was elated to find, however, that David Rees would be making an appearance at Powerhouse Books in D.U.M.B.O. Brooklyn, so I resolved that I should go and have some last laughs with the man himself. If you are not familiar with the comic, here's a little taste of how Rees kicked it all off in 2001:

Brilliant!

During his reading (which consisted of David showing transparencies of GYWO on an overhead projector and commentating...he's HI-LARIOUS!), David decided that since GYWO was at its end, he would say goodbye to his touring material, too. He was giving the transparencies away! And at the book signing afterward, he signed not only my book, but also the transparency that I scavenged off the floor. He even did a little patriotic illustration! I had two actually, but one he really loved and asked if he could keep for himself. As an artist, I was feelin' that, so I acquiesced...Here's my signed sh*t!

So, when i got to Powerhouse, I discovered that David Rees wasn't the only one speaking/reading. At first, I was a little irritated (i.e. Great! How many people will I have to suffer through before I can Get My War On?!)...until I realised that the other speaker was (drum roll please!) Amiri Baraka!!! For those of you that don't know, I grew up in a small suburb about 20 minutes south of Boston where most of the black people I knew were related to me. That is to say, to call Blacks a minority would be euphemistic at best. From age ten through most of high school, there was me and one other black girl in my class. We were seated alphabetically, so we were always on opposite sides of the classroom (I'm a W., she was a D.). And yet, without fail, teachers would constantly call me by her name, or her by mine...we don't even look kind of alike, y'all! I spent my youth and adolescence reading every black author I could get my hands on (I just had to know that 1. I wasn't the only black person on the planet, and 2. not only were there others, but a lot of them came from worse places than I and managed to make an escape). From about age 12 or 13, Amiri Baraka was at the top of the list. I had the priveledge of hearing him speak during my freshman year of arts college in Los Angeles. I was floored to be able to be in the same room with this legend again. And to have such a good seat this time! YAY!

So anyhoo...I was inspired and in awe and laughed so hard my stomach hurt! Here's a couple of snippets of Amiri Baraka during the Q & A session after the readings. Please keep in mind that this was shot on my crappy cell phone video. He's amazing nonetheless. He's like Yoda! He talks in circles but every word is brilliant! Love him. Love him. Love him. And he signed my book, too! This cat is 399% Jedi mind tricks!

And for a little more fun, here's a taste of the few animated Get Your War On comics from David Rees. Priceless! Please keep in mind that there is some VERY strong language and may not be appropriate for overhearing at your desk at work:

see you next time!

CSS @ Webster Hall NYC

2008-12-17T20:00:00.027-05:00

Let me just preface this by saying that I was shocked to even be able to get tickets the night before the event. After nearly an entire autumn dominated by Rachael Yamagata making the rounds to promote her new album (at B&N Union Square, with the Hotel Cafe Tour, and on her solo tour at Bowery Ballroom), I was thrilled to find that one of the bands that I've been most curious about for the past year, Cansei de Ser Sexy, would be playing in New York. CSS is that band that has a really good look, and a really good story, and really interesting interviews in all the magazines, but I'd never actually listened to much of their stuff before. I'd heard the odd snippet on myspace, but hadn't had a proper sit down to see what they were all about. After the events of Wednesday night, I think it's pretty safe to say that I am a very grateful convert. First off, Webster Hall is one of my favorite venues. I've seen some of my all time favorite shows there: Corinne Bailey Rae, The Gossip, and now CSS...There's no barrier to keep the audience away from the stage (which can be both a good and bad thing at times), and the stage itself is not so high up (if you're over 5'4", you can rest your elbows on the edge quite comfortably until a crowd surfer lands on your head because you were looking at the stage and didn't see him coming...*sigh*).

The show opener was a band called Ssion (pronounce that however you like...). This involved a heavily mustachioed lead singer, a keyboardist/sound engineer, a drummer, and two scantily clad boy back-up dancers. The music was club funky house goodness and with the antics of their lead singer and the dancing boys, there was not a dull moment in their set. And I will say this: their stage set was really quite elaborate for an opening act at such a small venue.

On to the main attraction: CSS at Webster Hall was the most insane show I have attended in my adult life! Lovefoxxx took to the stage wearing a black and white mudcloth printed bodysuit (with matching ankle boots...that, I'm sure, were not easy to find), and a feathered headdress, giving her the appearance of one of Maurice Sendak's famous Wild Things...and in this case, appearances were not deceiving. The action and energy on stage translated into utter madness on the floor. Did I mention the insane amount of crowd surfers using crowd surfing itself to circumvent security and have themselves deposited directly onto the stage? One guy was just plain greedy! I'm sure he was passed over or near my head and onto stage at least four times. And I took more than one unsuspecting foot to the back of the head when I was so focused on the band's antics on stage that I neglected to notice whole human beings hurtling toward my cranium. What could bring even more madness than this? I'll tell you what: Lovefoxxx in the audience, that's what! Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! Absolutepandemonium! And we loved it! She came down, not once, but twice...and toward the end of the show, after the "encore" (is it really an encore if you leave stage and we all know that you're coming back? I'm just sayin'...), Ana (keyboardist/guitarist extraordinaire) decided to have at it as well via a little crowd surfing. On her second go, she actually fell down into the audience and yours truly helped her up to her feet (so she wouldn't get trampled by all the people who didn't realise who the skinny girl at their feet was at first) and back on to the stage. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I freely admit that there were a few times when I actually feared for my life (my life being my camera and her well being), but seeing CSS live at Webster Hall was, without question, one of my most exhilarating experiences in recent history...and I hope it's not too long before I can do it again! Oh, and did I forget to mention that I got a copy of the first cd signed by all the band members for the low low price of $12? Yeah, here's a shot of that, too. Jealous much?

Here's a snippet of what you missed...

Video courtesy of lickyoats on youtube. cheers!

Rachael Yamagata @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2008-12-10T20:00:00.030-05:00

I know what you're thinking: Shirelle! More Rachael Yamagata?! WTF?! First of all, you can never have too much Rachael. You just can't. Second, there is a very specific set of circumstances and happenstances that have led us to the Rachael so often in the last few months. Many moons ago, when Rachael's first full-length album was released, I was packing up and getting ready to move back to the States from Japan. I'd read a couple of articles on her and downloaded a few songs (hey, her album wasn't available in Japan yet...and I bought it when I got back to the States). I was sitting in the airport reading Metropolis magazine (the go to guide for what to do in Tokyo), and saw that she was performing in Tokyo that week...but I was about to get on a plane, so no live Rachael for me. So, I moved from Japan back to Los Angeles, then a month later from Los Angeles to stay with family near Boston while I job and apartment hunted in New York. My plane landed in Boston, and I checked out a copy of The Improper Bostonian (a little go to guide for what to do in Boston), and found out that I'd just missed Rachael performing in Boston by three days!! Oh, the agony!! Fast forward to 2008, and Rachael was coming to NYC with the Hotel Cafe Tour. I got a ticket as soon as they went on sale...then, one day strolling through Union Square, I found out she'd be playing a few songs at the Barnes&Noble. Checked that out. Took photos. Posted photos on the blog. Side note: when I met her at the bookstore, I told her my tale of near misses, and she signed my cd like this:

Awesome!

A few weeks later, went to the Hotel Cafe Tour at the Bowery Ballroom. Got some kick ass shots. Posted the photos on the blog. Then, I got an update e-mail from Bowery Ballroom's mailing list and found out she'd be touring on her own in December...so I got tickets for me and Cristina (girl about town and partner in crime). Took photos. Photos posted here! So, stop complaining, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Okay, so the solo show at Bowery Ballroom: I considered it a particularly good omen when I was coming down the block to meet Cristina - who was very patiently waiting for me (and the tickets) outside in the drizzly rain - and I saw two figures standing outside having a smoke. I'm not a smoker myself, and generally find it to be a rather repulsive habit, but as I exchanged hellos with Cristina, I leaned in and said to her, "That girl smoking over there...is Rachael Yamagata." To which Cristina replied, "Really? 'Cause when they came out, she was all, "I hope it's okay for us to smoke over here."" Then Cristina asked me if I might not go over and give Rachael my general PSA that I recite whenever I see a friend smoking (it goes like this: "You shouldn't smoke. It's bad for you."). I demurred. On the one hand, the thought of a 40-year-old Rachael with yellow teeth and that phlegmy, hacking smoker's cough kinda breaks my heart. On the other hand, as I've mentioned before, I love her throaty, raspy voice. So, I find myself conflicted, and a little piece of me kinda hopes she never quits smoking if it will guarantee more record releases. Moving on...

The evening started off with opening act, The Low Anthem. As opening acts go, they were actually pretty cool. The Low End is a three person folk rock/blue grass kinda band. Some of the highlights were the constant instrument switches...like, "I loved playing clarinet on that first song, but now I feel like playing drums!" Another unexpectedly cool moment was when the lead singer (who never introduced himself, but I later googled and found out his name is Ben Knox Miller) petitioned the audience for "an older model cell phone with speaker phone". Someone was nice enough to oblige and at the end of the next song, Ben rang his own cell phone from the audience cell phone, put them both on speaker phone and held them up to each other, put them both between himself and the microphone, and whistled...and the feedback sound was something altogether otherwordly! I love it when people McGyver stuff together and it works! Go Low Anthem! Ben's voice is kind of like Duncan Sheik (from the first album, not the subsequent follow-ups that mostly sucked - sorry, but they did). Only Ben's voice has undertones that suggest he could totally kick Duncan Sheik's butt in a bar fight. Of course, Ben wouldn't actually get into a bar fight with Duncan Sheik. He'd probably say something like, "Whoa, I don't want to fight you Duncan Sheik...I just want to make music, man." Then he'd buy Duncan another beer and give him cab fare home. He just seems like that kind of guy. Other band members include Jocie Adams, who's voice lends an even more "Oh-Brother-Where-Art-Thou"-esqueness to the soulful, deep south churchiness of every song (plus, I love the band geekiness of a girl that plays the clarinet, the drums, and the guitar), and Jeff Prystowsky who sang back up and played an enormous upright bass and, I kid you not, a WWI portable pump organ. Worth a look-see for the pump organ and the instrumental musical chairs alone. Go see 'em!
Photo: Bust Magazine

It didn't take long after The Low Anthem finished before Rachael herself took to the stage to much applause and declarations of adoration from the audience (mostly from the really loud girl standing just behind me to the right who sang along to all of the older songs way too loudly in my ear and insisted she personally knew Jeff from The Low Anthem, even though when she tried to get his attention after their set, he looked directly through her and then turned and went on his merry way). Okay, I may have declared my love for her shoes (boots, really) more than once, but I was not alone in this...and Rachael did not want to give up the details! Being the girl sleuth that I am, however, I happen to know that Rachael was featured in the latest issue of Bust magazine whilst wearing these self same shoes and for those that were there and also wondering, they are Steven by Steve Madden. She wore a shimmery emerald green baby doll dress (of nebulous provenance, but very, very chic), black tights with a fat run in them at the left knee, and the afore mentioned supercalifragilistic buckle-up, open-toe boots which I continue to covet and may have to buy myself for Christmas...*sigh*

She opened with the title track off her latest album, "Elephants". She was accompanied on the tiniest cello I've ever seen a grown man play by Daniel Cho. As animated as the audience was when Rachael came out, somehow this song never fails in descending a hush over a crowded room. The piano is sparse and the verses are simple, so it can only be that Rachael herself is so captivating that she sends on-lookers into a sort of melodically induced fugue state. She followed Elephants with Be Be Your Love, the opening piano licks of which sent up raucous cheers from anyone in the ballroom who fell in love with Rachael's voice at the release of her first LP in 2004 (or more recently on her myspace page), and then picked up the guitar for the newest incarnation of Sunday Afternoon. After that she declared that she was switching gears from heartbroken victim songs to songs with a decidedly more "You a**hole! F*ck You!" bent. Songs like Faster and Sidedish Friend got the crowd shouting along, and of course, the between song banter is always a good time with Rachael. During guitar tuning, people would shout out song requests and she would tell a funny story about the song and why she might or might not be doing that one this evening. One girl (guess which one) kept yelling her request for Woman, and Rachael finally had to address the issue. She said whenever she plays it, people think she's a lesbian...and maybe she should dispel all rumours right then and there by making out with a girl. Naturally, this elicited much excitement in the crowd (particularly from a very ardent fan at the back). Rachael took notice and assured her that she was very flattered by all the attention, and although the girl was very hot (Rachael's words, not mine), she may have to pass. I believe the phrase used was something like, "You are really hot...If I didn't have to work right now, up here, it would be all about you and me making out back stage." Then she laughed it all off. According to Rachael, the boys in the band always end up hooking up with girls at shows and stumbling back to the hotel or tour bus in the wee hours of the morning, while Rachael just goes back to the hotel, puts on her pajamas, and reads. A lot. And she says she likes it that way. She reads a lot of books and writes songs about animals. What's not to like?

Best part of the show? I'm sure this will be widely debated by other people who were there. But for my part, I particularly enjoyed Rachael's solo rendition of Duet where she hummed both the male and female parts of the middle verse intermittently ("...and then this part goes (in a deep 'male' vibrato) Hmmmm Hmmm...and then I go (in her own girlish voice) Hmmm Hmm Hmmmm. Hmmm Mmmm. Hmmm Mmmm Hmmm"). She was laughing so hard at herself that she could barely finish the song, and at one point, even had to stop to remember where she was supposed to be on the guitar part. Hilarious! Okay...Maybe you had to be there for that one...well, you should have been. 'Cause it was a good time. Check out the tour if she comes to a city near you.

Here's a taste of what you missed by not being there: Rachael performing What If I Leave?

Video courtesy of Ashmaaaa on youtube.

Hotel Cafe Tour @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2008-10-30T20:00:00.006-04:00

Hello All and Happy Halloween to the lot of you! On All Hallows' Eve Eve, I tripped over to the Bowery Ballroom (one of my favorite places in New York City) to see a show I've been holding a ticket to for more than a month...oh, the anticipation has been agony! So if you like the photos, you can click on them to get the full size view. And leave a comment! Let me know how you feel! Okay, before we begin, you should know that over the summer, i went to see She&Him at Terminal 5, and I was super excited (I just heart Zooey Deschanel and her voice is so sweet and her songs are so old school cool, right?). BUT, when I got to the door, security wouldn't let me in with my camera because it's too awesome. They said if I had a crappy point-and-shoot, it'd have been fine, but Artemis is just too wicked to get in without a press pass (Yes, my camera has a name...her name is Artemis). And I had no press pass. Can you believe I had to leave my camera in the coat check?!?! Apparently, I wasn't alone in this. The girl at coat check had a special area for everyone's camera gear...that made me a little less nauseous at the thought of leaving my baby with a stranger. All alone. In the dark. Poor Artemis. Poor me! I had a great time at the show, but was beside myself that I couldn't take any photos. Nothing to reminisce over...*sigh* Poor you! No photos of how adorable Zooey looked in her little blue vintage dress with the little satin headband and the giant flower on the side. So cute. But there's no evidence. It may as well have never even happened at all...I was determined that this would never happen to me again. I was determined that I should never again be separated from my camera when something as wonderful as live music is happening just beyond the large man at the door shaking his head. So, I decided that I would have to make my own press pass. I had no qualms about faking up a press pass (just in case someone working the door at the Hotel Cafe Tour should give me a hard time). I did all the graphics and whatnot at home on my own. Laminated it at Kinko's. Easy, peasy, one-two-threesy! Then, I thought, but what if someone tries to verify my fake sh*t? And this was actually the impetus for this very blog! Okay, there! I said it! I only started this blog as a front for my awesome new homemade press pass. And you know what? I'm not ashamed! I love my camera. I love live music. Apparently, I also love yammering on and on about whatever comes to mind when I sit down to write about what happens when my camera and the live music come together...I love this blog. I love you for reading it. Warm fuzzies! After all that worrying about keeping it real (or really, making it real, with my press pass), nobody said boo to me about my camera. I think I've gone off on a tangent. Let's get back on track. Hotel Cafe Tour. Bowery Ballroom. Rachael Yamagata. Meiko. Thao Nguyen. Samantha Crain. Emily Wells. Jenny Owen Youngs. Live music. Me and my camera and my shiny new press pass. Awesomeness. The Hotel Cafe is a little spot in Los Angeles where heaps of people turn up to perform. The tour is an extension of the cafe itself, and it's not just unsigned indies either...Rilo Kylie, Jason Mraz, and John Mayer have all performed on other legs of the Hotel Cafe Tour. This particular tour at this particular point in time, however, is the girls' tour. All girls. All the time...well, nearly. The backing band members are all boys, but they in their defense, they were all very talented, and lovable, and cute (you know, in that way that only sensitive, musician-type boys can be). The format is like no other show I've ever seen. Mostly in that it seemed to lack format. No opening acts. Every artist on equal footing (performance-wise...as far as notoriety, some were definitely more well-known than others - and by "some" I mean Rachael Yamagata). Everyone came up and did a few songs, and then left, and then came back and did a few more later, and then came on to back up another performer, and then left off stage again. I kind of liked the no-format format to be honest. It really does put all the artists on equal footing so it never feels like the person you're watching and listening to at the moment is any less important than the bigger name that follows. No openers. Just headliners. And we'll all headline together! It's a very girly concept, really. Apropos for such a vajayjay-centric kind of tour. So for anyone who showed up after the theoretical 8pm show time (which in concert reality is an 8:30pm show time), they missed some great performances. Luckily, they can check out this blog and look at some pretty pictures, and it'll be just like they were there and didn't miss a thing. Holla! So, the evening kicked off with some great opening audience banter by Jason Kanakis - who not only hosted the evening, but also backed up the performers on guitar (acoustic and electric) and ukulele, followed by a lovely little lady (seriously, she can't be more than 5 feet tall) by the name of Samantha Crain. Admittedly, the evening was a blur of artists I'd never seen, heard, or even heard of before. That being said, Samantha rendered herself instantly memorable with her soulful voice and her simultaneous guitar and harmonica playing, not to mention her charming in-between chit-chat with the crowd. She sang about a preacher who drowns a churchgoer during a baptism. She talked about this trip's "New York Moment". This one involving her walk earlier that afternoon down Spring St. where they just happened to be filming "Ugly Betty", and someone mistook Samantha for America Ferrerra. It's not hard to see why...charming and adorable. According to a particularly zealous fan, THE cutest person in the whole world. Samantha graciously accepted the compliment, but asked in response, "Do you even know everyone in the whole world?"; and then after a moment's pause, "Is that Angie? [The compliment] doesn't count if it's from my publicist..." Adorable, no? Next to take the stage (well, a very well organised corner of the stage, really) was Emily Wells. For those of you who don't know who she is (and I certainly didn't before this), Emily Wells kicks ass. First of all, she plays violin. She also sings. She also plays guitar and xylophone and metalophone. She does all these things AT THE SAME TIME! Sort of. She has a table set up with a few different record-and-play-back devices, and since she did her entire set solo sans backing musicians, she would, for instance, start out playing a little melody on her violin, record it, loop it, and play it back while she added another sound to the mix and then sang over it all. I was impressed by the sheer organisational prowess involved in such an undertaking. To describe her sound: it's kind of like Break of Reality and Rasputina meets Martha Wainwright. Dark with some bright spots, and completely her own. The highlight of her second set was her cover of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy". Priceless...Though it did feel like I was the only person in the audience who seemed to know all the words and be singing along. Next, when Samantha Crain came back for another set, she announced that she was doing a cover of "99 Problems". We were all impressed...until she giggled and said, "No, not really...but maybe I'll work on that one for you guys for the next time..." When Thao Nguyen came out, she basically grabbed her guitar, plugged into the amp at center stage and proceeded to take the joint over. I have to say, she was probably the most enthusiastic performer of the whole night, and it was contagious. She had every person in the room jumping and swaying. Before she had even made it out to the middle of the stage, she'd already garnered several declarations of love and a couple of marriage proposals from points unseen in the audience. She even had her "Willie Nelson and Friends" moment when all of the other performers came out to join her on stage for one number. So adept at moving the crowd while still seemingly only playing for herself and the fun of it, she gave the impression that there are probably very few things she's not good at. Thao was loud and fun. Melodic, stage savvy, and ultimately captivating. Definitely worth a go-see. After waaaaaaaay too much anticipation, Rachael Yamagata , at long last, sneaked onto stage and sat herself down at the piano. It must be mentioned in a side note, that the piano was far, far stage right, and Rachael's face was mostly hidden behind the microphone. I decided it was time to put my newly obtained press credentials to work, and muscled my way as politely as possible over to the other side of the stage to get us all some decent shots. Yay, us! Cheers, cheers all around for laminates. But I digress...It hardly needs to be mentioned that Rachael Yamagata is a spectacular musician and author of the soundtrack to your latest break-up. She opened this particular set with the title track off her new double disc release, "Elephants". You could hear a pin drop in the ballroom. No one even sang along, they were all so transfixed by her voice. Raspy, throaty, gravely...call it what you will, but regardless of the inevitable comparisons to other singers like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, Rachael's voice is a creature all its own. Is it wrong to hope that she never quits smoking? Her set was too short, and we had to wait too long to have her back on stage again. Clearly, she had split her performances between piano songs and guitar songs, and this was the piano song set. *sigh* Meiko's first words upon taking up the microphone were, "Damn, Rachael!" Admittedly, Miss Y. is a pretty tough act to follow. All the more because she really does play to herself moreso than to the crowd. She appreciates and enjoys the applause, but she doesn't really seem to need it. That being said, Meiko picked up her guitar and took us all on a ride through some very cleverly worded musical stylings. It must be noted that she wore the sparkliest emerald green eye shadow...around which revolved a good deal of her back and forth banter with the audience. Someone even yelled out that they liked her blush, which she mis-heard as something else entirely and asked them to repeat it...then spell it. "Ah, BLUSH...with an L. That L is important...'Cause that would have been awkward..." Lovely and very entertaining. I believe my favorite of her songs that evening was called "Real, Real Sweet" and was about the girlfriend of a friend who was convinced that there was more than just friendship going on between Meiko and her man. Trust me, you wanna run and find that one for your mp3 player. And remember: it's not rude if it's in a song...An unexpected surprise on this leg of the Hotel Cafe Tour was none other than Jenny Owen Youngs. She'd performed the night before in Philadelphia and wasn't really scheduled for the show at the Bowery, but since New York is her hometown, she came out and gave us a little something. Her banter, not just with the audience, but most notably with Jason Kanakis (who backed her up on mandolin) was hilarious! They discussed skull duggery and skull buggery, among other things. She was relieved to get a laugh for it in NYC because in Philly when she brought up skull f*cking..."Hmmm...not so much." Take Jenny, a song containing the hook "What the f*ck was I thinking?", add in Jason Kanikis and Jason Kanakis' mustache, and wacky hi-jinks are bound to ensue. Jenny was like Dorothy Parker with a guitar...and I loved it! It cannot go unsaid that Rachael Yamagata's second, guitar song set was awesome. She played a new song and a couple of older ones. All were thoroughly enjoyed and rocked out to by the crowd. It also cannot go without saying that it is extremely difficult to get a good photo of Rachael Yamagata while she is performing. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the lighting could not compete with her hair. Rachael has really great hair. It's dark and thick, and everything a shampoo commercial could ever hope for. It is cut just so that it almost entirely engulfs her face, bangs hanging down nearly to her nose. In case you're wondering (and I can tell that you are), this all plays into making it (as I've already said) extremely difficult to get a good photo of her. More to the point, it makes it extremely difficult to get a good photo of her where you can actually see her face. There is one other factor that makes getting a good photo of Rachael so very troublesome. (If you're reading this, Rachael, I apologise, but it's true). The fact is Rachael doesn't perform "pretty". It's part of what makes her so entrancing to watch. She is so into what she's doing, she's not concerned with how she looks while she's doing it. Rachael has "Rock Face". This is the condition where any kind of emotion conveyed while rocking out (which Rachael does on every song, even the slow ones) causes the face the contort, giving the rocker the look of one who is a) shocked , b) in agonising pain, or c) smelling something completely wretched. It's not her fault. She just rocks so hard, it really can't be helped. She performed a new song from the new double disc, "Faster", and something from her first full length LP, "Worn Me Down". Of course she had Rock Face! You may be wondering now, how it is that I've managed to take such awesome photos of Rachael where you can actually see her face. That answer is easy. I'm the shizzle. Peace out my babies!!! See you at the next show... Enjoy this snippet of Jenny Owen Youngs performance of her song "F*ck Was I Thinking?".

Side note: I recently discovered that Jenny Owen Youngs mentioned on her own blog that i mentioned her on my own blog.

Rachael Yamagata Live In-Store @ Barnes&Noble Union Square- NYC

2008-10-16T19:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, so as a little surprise, I was passing through Union Square early this week and noticed that Rachael Yamagata was doing an in-store appearance/performance/cd signing at Barnes&Noble on Thursday. As I am a HUGE Rachael Yamagata fan and had no other social obligations on Thursday evening, I made it a point to turn up to said appearance/performance/cd signing...with my camera of course. As luck would have it, I was moved up to one of the very close-up "Reserved" row seats because some very important losers didn't show up in time. Yay Me! And Yay You...Because you get to see the photos....and stay tuned. I'll also be snapping photos of Rachael at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on 30th October.
Just at the start....

Sometimes...you can actually see her face!

Just before a song...

Taking questions from the moderator...

Inside the music

All introspective and thinky...

Here's a little live vid of Rachael performing "Sunday Afternoon" at the event.

Video courtesy of JoThere on Youtube.

COMING SOON

2008-09-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

Keep an eye out for up close and personal photos that make you feel like you were there!
Performances from some of your favorite artists:

AESOP ROCK
RACHAEL YAMAGATA
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
ZAP MAMA
LES NUBIANS
SARAH BLASKO
ALICE SMITH
JANELLE MONAE
THE GOSSIP
MANY MORE...

Aesop Rock at the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn, NY

2008-08-17T14:39:00.013-04:00

One lovely summer's morning (okay, afternoon really), I awoke to the excited twitterings of my flatmate who very much wanted to know if I would accompany her to a free show at the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn. "What free show?" I inquired. "AESOP ROCK!!!!" she replied, barely able to contain herself. Needless to say, I quickly dressed, grabbed my camera, and headed out the door with her.

Upon arriving at the McCarren Pool, we were informed by event staff that I could not, in fact, bring my yummy and delicious Mr. Softee rootbeer float into the venue. Mind you, they were not selling McCarren-style rootbeer floats inside, but they wouldn't let me in with mine. You should also be well advised that you'd better find somewhere else to take your bike. It's fantastic to bike through Brooklyn in the summertime, but they won't let you take it inside the venue. This family (so cute with their fun hair and tattoos and cool kid in his bike-child's seat) had to ride around for quite some time looking for a place they felt safe locking up their bikes while they were inside. So, if you go to the McCarren Pool on your bike, don't say I didn't warn you.

I'd never been inside the Pool before. It's run down (obviously, or it would still be an actual swimming pool and not a concert venue...yay for run down!). Somehow, though, like so many parts of Brooklyn, it still manages to make run down look beautiful...especially if you're with good company on a perfect summer day in August. The pool is everything trendy, hipster-ridden Williamsburg is all about. It's shabby, but just enough to still be chic.

The crowd was amazing. Thankfully, not just a bunch of shaggy-haired, striped scarf wearing, Manhattan-transplanted, pretentious, artsy, trendy hipsters...and not just trendy-ass hipster posers either. The people watching was stellar. Some of my favorites: Two Sikh boys in pink turbans (who knew all the words to every song that Aesop Rock'ed! p.s. I kinda have a thing for Sikh boys in turbans), some girls laying down on the bottom of the pretty blue paint chipped pool, a toddler with some music -buffering headphones on (bright pink - more very cool parents need to get these for their kids, btw). When Aesop Rock took the stage with Rob Sonic as his trusty companion and partner in rhyme, the crowd went bananas! The surge of bodies pushing toward the stage actually lifted me up off my feet momentarily. Backed by DJ Big Whiz on the wheels of steel, Aesop took the crowd on a lyrical journey through his musical catalogue. For real, for those that didn't already know, suddenly "Fast Cars, Danger, Fire, and Knives" seemed like the hot new anthem and something to maybe do some research on if you want to get some street cred. Personally, I had to stop taking photos and just stand with my hand to my heart when the beat dropped for "Daylight". I confess, I may have had a little tear in my eye. That was a very moving moment in hip hop for yours truly. Joined throughout the show by the likes of Rob Sonic, El-P, and Yak Ballz, Aesop gave the performance of the summer and made an entire corner of Brooklyn thank God for run down swimming pools and free summer shows.

U People Documentary Fundraiser @ Southpaw in Brooklyn featuring the ladies of Ubiquita and Staceyann Chin

2008-06-12T19:00:00.022-04:00

Once upon a late spring's eve, I befriended a phenomenal deejay who goes by the name of DJ Reborn of the much lauded and Village Voice featured Ubiquita collective. When I found out she was spinning again in a neighborhood not too far from my own in Brooklyn, I resolved instantly that I should go. As the date drew nearer, I was receiving more and more information on the event. It would be at Southpaw in Park Slope. It was a co-production between Ubiquita and U People to kick off Pride month in June. It would be a fundraising event for the U People Documentary, a film shot during the filming of Hanifah Walidah's "Make A Move" music video featuring a Brooklyn brownstone filled with 30 women of color - straight, gay, and trans -discussing what it means to be Black and LGBT in America today. You can order the DVD directly from the U People website. (and while you're at it, get on the mailing list because Hanifah and Olive know how to throw a party!) It would be $20 to get in. Featured artists performing would be Shelley Nicole's Blakbushe, Hanifah Walidah featuring Helen Foulard of Les Nubians, and (wait for it....) Staceyann Chin. Let me say that again in case you missed it: STACEYANN CHIN!!!! Staceyann Chin, world renown poet and spoken word artist. Staceyann Chin of Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam fame. Staceyann Muthaf*cking Chin. So, as you might imagine, I was even more excited about the event. The event listing said that it started at 7pm. Now, I wasn't sure if that was 7pm Real World time or 7pm CP time, so I decided to head over from work straightaway (I didn't want to take the chance that Staceyann's busy schedule would have her performing first at a punctual event and I might miss it because I wanted to go home and get even cuter...so i just went with my usual cute...and my camera). In my rush to get to the show on time, I mistakenly forgot my camera battery in the charger at my jobby-job. Thankfully, I realised this before I got on the train and raced back to pick it up before it was too late. Then I dashed back to the subway and headed to Park Slope. The friend that was meeting me had already arrived, but the venue was not quite up and grooving yet (CP time after all), so we went to grab something to eat. I don't want to name names and blacken the reputation of any Park Slope eateries, but the place my friend chose had the slowest service this side of purgatory! And though I love her to pieces, my girl was taking waaaaay too long to eat something that had already taken waaaaay too long to arrive at the table; and I'm like a five-year-old in a bank line with my mum once my attention span stops working. So after over an hour, I had to excuse myself from the table and agree to meet her back at Southpaw when she was finished. I got back to the spot and it looked like things were starting to jump off. A good-size and good looking crowd had begun to form and there were some sounds pumping through the speakers. I scoped out my surroundings with my camera, taking a few test shots here and there to check the lighting, etc. Then I sidled up to the bar and ordered my drink (Shirley Temple. Very red. Four cherries.). Not long after, my friend re-arrived and we took a seat in a little elevated, comfy lounge area to take in the ambiance and feel the vibe of the evening. Now, when I first got there, like I said, Southpaw wasn't really much to look at. A cavernous event space with dim lighting, a dusty floor, a red-lit bar, and a naked performance stage. But by this time, the place was getting pretty packed, and it really did look like a good time about to go off. It never ceases to amaze me how the energy of the people in a space can be so transformative to the space itself. Southpaw was lookin' kinda cute! The first act to take the stage (after a spirited introduction from Ubiquita event coordinator Kim Knox) was Shelley Nicole's Blakbusche. Funk. And then some more funk. Funk like I wanted my Uncle John to come back from the other side just to watch this show with me because I'm not sure if anyone else I know could fully understand this funk. Shelley Nicole killed it. It was soul. It was funk. It was rock and roll. It was some love in your ear is what it was. A good time was had by all. Not a single ass was left unshaken when she departed the stage. Next to take the stage was - DA da da DAAAAHHH - Staceyann Chin! She got up and just started talking sh*t with the audience. A little back and forth about her hope to score a booty call out of tonight's engagement (as it was very low-key and the opening of pride month). She listed some pretty stiff criteria for anyone taking on this challenge. No abbreviated text messaging (wut r u up 2? call me l8r!), and please respect the rules of capitalisation and punctuation. And I can't stress this enough: Grammar. Grammar. Grammar. In short: Spelling, right. Grammar, tight. Staceyann is a force! She's tall and lithe, and takes up every inch of the stage with her presence. At every rise and fall of her voice, every facial expression, every mimed action, she illustrated her words with her body and took the audience along with her on the journey. Even as she stuttered out the last few lines of her last piece and gracefully demurred and bowed out from the stage, the crowd was cheering her on and begging her to continue just a little more...She certainly left them all wanting and waiting to see what she'll come up with next. Last get up and give it to the crowd was Hanifah Walidah (Miss U People herself!). Her set, from top to bottom was not just soulful, but full of spunk and humor. Miss Walidah is most definitely an all around performer. She sang her little face off, and also managed to make time to joke with the back up singers and introduce the world to some incredible musicians as well. On bass was Ganessa James (who also played bass with Shelley Nicole earlier in the evening). This girl is so much fun to watch hiding out in the background! As a bass player, she is pretty much designed to be low-key and in the background, but if you can peak over and around the edge of Hanifah's personality to catch Ganessa in the back, you can see that she is sincerely having the time of her life, slapping out basslines and dancing with her eyes closed. On guitar was a young lady that Hanifah found on MySpace (thank heaven for the internet, right?), Michelle Williams. This sista's skills were completely off the chain! Seriously, she is making me re-think my long-held belief that the bass player is, without fail, always the coolest person in the band. She switched between three different guitars. The last one was some kind of creature I'd never even seen before. It had a double-wide fret and ten or twelve strings and an odd shaped body. I don't know what it was called, but Michelle played the hell outta that thing! The live performances were followed by the ladies of Ubiquita (DeeJays Reborn, Moni, Selly, and SheRock) on the turntables to keep the party going. Up first was DJ Reborn making it do what it do with her own special blend of old school funk and soul mixed with contemporary hip hop and r&b. Next up was SheRock, and this is definitely not a misnomer. SheRock the ones and twos like nobody's business! Kept my body rockin'...Unfortunately, my jobby-job does not involve staying up all night in Brooklyn hot spots and shakin' ass (though I often wish it were...*sigh*), so I had to cut out before Moni and Selly took to the tables. Life is so unfair...Until next time my lovelies!

Check out Hanifah Walidah's music video for her song, 'Make A Move':

Video courtesy of souloperator on youtube

The Gossip @ Webster Hall - NYC

2007-04-16T20:00:00.003-04:00

I have been smitten with The Gossip and the overwhelming awesomeness of the band's frontwoman, Beth Ditto, ever since the the uber-cheesy, way low-tech, Super Mario Paint-looking video for "Standing In The Way Of Control" first dropped on Logo network's NewNowNext music series. At the first glance, I was preparing myself for a lame, tepid attempt at synth-rock from some people who never would have gotten their video on at all if someone from the band weren't gay, bi, or trans ('cause Logo likes to be supportive, even when the band sucks sometimes)...then she started singing. I couldn't even take in the lyrics to see what the song was about until about the fifth or sixth time I rewound it on the TiVo. I was just so transfixed by her voice. Big and broad and loud without reducing to a shout. It was like Aretha Franklin decided to give her Queen of Soul title a rest and take on the mantle of Queen of Rock, just to see how it feels. Beth Ditto hops, twists, twitters, and vibrates her way around the video set in a way so completely unselfconscious it gives the impression that the band was just kind of messing around and never really meant for anyone to see this video at all. Needless to say, I am, to this very day, completely gutted to know that my favorite karaoke bar (Sing Sing on St. Mark's Place) doesn't have this song. They have "Jealous Girls", but not "Standing in the Way of Control". Is there no justice in this world? "Jealous Girls" is a great song, but "Standing in the Way of Control" is an anthem! Possibly the best karaoke song in the history of...EVER! Gutted. Just gutted. (Sing Sing, can you hear me? Are you reading this? Help a girl out!) So anyway...Webster Hall. Don't ask me who opened. I'm sure I took some photos, but clearly nothing memorable. I'm sure they were very good (whoever they were). And really, when you think about it, it's probably best to be the forgettable opening act to The Gossip than to be the total train wreck that tries to follow them onstage, right? So, let's not worry our pretty little heads about such things. Let's think only happy thoughts. Thoughts like: The Gossip. Beth Ditto. Happy Warm Fuzzies. Rainbows. Unicorns. Hugs. When The Gossip hits the stage, let's just say it's something to see. For anyone who's never been inside Webster Hall, you should know that it's one of those super old school, New York landmark, throwback venues with an up close and personal, intimate feel to it. When you see a performance there, it's a standing room only situation. There's a VIP area up in the balcony with little tables and it's all cutesy and whatnot, but for my own personal enjoyment, I'd rather be down on the floor, squished up against the stage (Yes, right up against the stage. No barriers to keep us a respectable distance from the performers at Webster Hall), with my camera snapping away, the ground vibrating under my feet, and the music pulsing through me. If the bass isn't regulating my heartbeat, how can I be sure I'm really alive, right? Beth addressed the audience between songs in a manner that can really only be described, in a word, as neighborly. She came off not as your best friend, but like your big sister's best friend who is secretly nice to you when your sister isn't looking. She talked to the crowd about the songs and what inspired them. She talked about her roots in smalltown USA and what made her proud to represent the midwest. She talked about fighting against ignorance and the distant-but-not-so-distant 2008 presidential elections. She talked about hope, for the present as well as for the future, and how each and every one of us can find some way to make a positive difference in the world. For nearly ninety minutes, there was not a single pause or a lull in the momentum. One of the highlights of the show was the band's very own rendition of the Aaliyah classic "Are You That Somebody?" Naturally, Beth put her own unmistakable vocal spin on it, but the fact that this slow and purring r&b song was so completely unexpected at a rock show instantly succeeded in uniting the audience in the warm-fuzziest sing-a-long I've ever, to this point in time, had the privilege to be a part of. At one point, she had the entire hall repeating after her, chanting the words "I am special. We are special." And she meant it. Nothing further illustrates this point more than when, during the encore, an excited and ambitious young man in silver a silver jacket and a bowler hat climbed up onto the stage to get up and shake it with Miss Ditto herself. Just as event security was about to drag him off stage, Beth insisted it was okay...then she invited everyone else who felt like it to come up on stage, and even pulled a few people up herself! Not to be outdone by her dancing, singing, shouting acolytes who were now up on stage, Beth descended the stage quite literally into the arms of the frenzied crowd. She sang, danced, chanted, hugged, and sincerely thanked as many people as could lay hands on her for being part of the evening's experience. One that, I'm sure, no one in attendance that night will soon (if ever) forget. Like I said: The Gossip. Beth Ditto. Happy Warm Fuzzies. Rainbows. Unicorns. Hugs.

Here's a little taste of what it was like to be there. Beth belting out 'Standing In The Way Of Control':

Video courtesy of susanna27 on youtube.

And because I loved it so much, here's a bit of their cover of Aaliyah's 'Are You That Somebody':

Video courtesy of supmag on youtube.

Bye babies! See you at the next show...

Corinne Bailey Rae @ Webster Hall NYC

2006-09-23T20:00:00.012-04:00

In a strange twist of fate, I fell in love with Corinne one day while strolling through the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. I spotted her cd and instantly thought I would like it (and her) based solely on the cover art (I'm superficial and shallow and tend to be drawn toward pretty things in pretty packaging...). Unfortunately, at that time, it was only available as a British import, and I'm not in the habit of paying $24 for a single cd...so I waited. Then I waited some more. Then I found out she was having a US cd release and jumped on it without hesitation. I was not disappointed. Moreover, I was actually kind of amazed that more people didn't know about her and I hyped her cd like I invented that sh*t myself! On September 23rd, I had the good fortune to see Corinne Bailey Rae perform at one of my favorite venues in New York City, Webster Hall.
The old school charm and unimposing size of Webster Hall was well-suited to Corinne's music and personality. She performed as if singing only for her own amusement, most of the time with her eyes closed and a serene smile upon her face. More than once, she seemed genuinely startled out of her reverie by the applause at the end of a song, or if she opened her eyes briefly, by the room full of fans that were singing along to her every word. Every facial expression, every vocal inflection, every shrug of her shoulders, and every gesture of hand...Corinne gave the feeling that she'd invited you over for a cup of tea when her favorite song just happened to come on the radio, and she simply couldn't help but sing along. Apart from the performance itself - which was effortlessly sweet and moving, endearing Corinne to all who watched and listened - the music was no less inspired. The songs are sparsely, simply written, yet so truthful, one can't help but be moved by the emotion behind the words. Ever more unique, I find, Corinne's songs and voice have the ability to capture joy in a way that is often overlooked in a landscape of bump'n'grind ballads and emo-punk depressive rock torch songs. Even when the songs tend toward more melancholy territory (as in "Til It Happens To You" and "Seasons Change"), it is never in a woe-is-me vein, but rather, has the effect of your best friend giving you a big hug and saying, "Yeah, that really sucks. Just let it all out." If she comes to a city near you, do whatever you have to do to make sure you don't miss it. Now, when is that next album coming?...*sigh*

This is actually from a show she did in Leeds, but I thought I'd spread the love anyway...enjoy!

Video courtesy of buttshak3r on youtube.

Sarah Blasko & Martha Wainwright @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

2005-10-25T19:00:00.015-04:00

Before you get too involved with this, you should know that I actually went to this show specifically to see Sarah Blasko. I was not a Martha Wainwright fan, which is to say that I had never heard any of her songs prior to attending this show. Your first question, naturally, is this: Who's Sarah Blasko? Here's your answer: Sarah Blasko is awesome. Period. I happened upon her cd while strolling through the Virgin Megastore one day. I loved the cover photo, and it was $9.99. It was a bargain, and I'm a sucker for pretty packaging (I also bought Maria Taylor's 11:11 that same day for the very same two reasons). I was surprised to find out that Sarah was an Aussie import (as Virgin loves to uber-charge for imports). There was no place to listen to any of the tracks in the store, so I proceeded to the register with faith that my ability to find good music based solely on the packaging would not fail me. I was not disappointed. So wasn't I surprised, as I was scrolling through Bowery Ballroom's calendar of events and saw Sarah Blasko's name!?! My first thought: Yay! My next thought: Why is her name so small...and who's Martha Wainwright?

I arrived early so as not to miss any of Sarah opening the show for Martha Wainwright. Her set was off the chain! For most of the songs it was just Sarah and her guitar and another guy backing her up on guitar/keyboard. Then she had this tiny little four track mini Moog to play some recorded sounds while she worked it out on the mic. Her voice has this fragile, lilting quality to it, but then the music takes a turn and her sound is soaring, almost Bjork-like in it's tone and expanse. She played mostly songs from her current cd, 'The Overature and the Underscore', and also a couple of songs from her debut EP, 'Prelusive'. Some of my favorites of the evening were 'Beautiful Secrets', 'True Intentions', and 'All Coming Back'. All tracks that have bridges or endings where Sarah's just wailing on the microphone, and her voice hits you dead in your center and radiates out the top of your head and your fingertips. Unreal. One of the sweetest, most upbeat songs, 'Always Worth It', Sarah said she wrote after watching an episode of the Sopranos, so inspiration really can strike at any time, I suppose. I was sorry to see her leave the stage, but now suddenly curious about this Martha Wainwright character...Oh, and Sarah was over by the merchandise table after the show and was nice enough to pose for a photo with yours truly! Yippee!

Honestly, my first impression was: I don't wanna hear some girl who makes records just because her brother is awesome and makes awesome records. I love me some Rufus Wainwright. I wasn't even interested in standing around to listen to some trendy ass poser of a sister...but then she came on stage and didn't even suck at all! Yay Martha! I wasn't familiar with any of her music, so I was pleasantly surprised at every turn. Songs like 'BMFA' (google that if you need elaboration) were catchy as hell and very amusing. She did a rendition of one of my favorite Nina Simone songs, 'Ne Me Quittez Pas', in French no less (I thought Canadians weren't supposed to be all showy and whatnot...). For two songs, she was even joined onstage by her adorable brother Rufus Wainwright, and backed up throughout the set by their another Wainwright sister. Oh, I'm having a fashion flashback! Martha wore these jeans...really nice jeans. Jeans with no side seams! I haven't quite worked out the construction process yet, but you can bet you're gonna catch me in a pair before the month is out! But I digress...Martha Wainwright: not a trendy ass poser. Very, very talented. Glad that I got to see her show and get acquainted with her music. You should too. See you at the next show!

Here's a sample of the goods: Sarah Blasko performing 'All Coming Back' live at The Living Room NYC

Video courtesy of tixgirl on youtube.