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.
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.
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:
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:
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!
