Brandi!!!

I saw Brandi Carlile this past Saturday, and she was every bit as awesome as I’d hoped. She played for nearly 2 hours (which does not include the time taken by the also good opening act Greg Isakov), and seemed to be having a great time. She said that she loved New Jersey about a million times, and avoided making any Jersey Shore jokes, which I really appreciated. At first I thought that maybe she says that everywhere, but she did stay for a really long time, so even if she tells every crowd that they’re her favorite stop on tour, I don’t mind. Plus, maybe wherever she is is her favorite place to be. Some people are easy to please like that. I took a boatload of pictures, many of which didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped, and a couple of videos. The first, of “Dying Day,” which is my favorite song on her newest CD, Give Up the Ghost, was by itself worth the price of admission, since she did it entirely unplugged. The second, “Caroline,” was interrupted by an overzealous security guard, but that actually ended up being okay, since if I’d gotten the entire song, I would have run out of space on my memory card; I had 20 megs left when I got home, and that was with me deleting especially awful pictures right after I’d taken them. Close call! So many thanks to OSG, without whom I wouldn’t have my best shots of the night, which came toward the end of the evening.

Dying Day

Videus Interruptus: Caroline (Or maybe Caroli–!)

Random thoughts

1) I am definitely not going to Rhinebeck. Sad face.

2) Somebody took the space on the bus that I gave up, so I will be getting a refund. Happy face.

3) Brandi Carlile having the Twins is almost as awesome as Jason Mraz having a Toca.

Week o’Concerts

I saw the Beautifiul Small Machines on Tuesday night. They were at Ella Lounge, in the venue’s tiny basement, which was filled with smoke (machine-made, not from cigarettes). We walked in on the tail end of the previous set, which featured a DJ on a MacBook Pro and some guy on a guitar. Pass. One couple was even playing with a light saber-ish thingie that looked cute in the smoke, but kind of made people freak when the beam landed on them. When it landed on me I waved, and the girl scowled. Who knows what that means?

BSM’s set was great. The band seemed to be having a great time, although Bree Sharp got really emotional and said that she thought it would be her last show with the band, which was also going to be getting some new members. What does this mean? She wasn’t clear, and the band’s web sites aren’t elaborating. Bummer!

On Wednesday, I saw Ingrid Michaelson. She was fabulous! I’ve gotten over my confusion from this past summer, and have decided that Jason Mraz is definitely my favorite singer; still, she’s a close second. In my mind, Ingrid Michaelson is actually the female Mraz. She’s a great singer with an amazing voice, she’s funny, she a little hippie-ish, and she talks incessantly between songs. I wasn’t in the mood to be expansive and open-minded and did not end up seeing the opening acts, but she performed for a really long time and I was more than pleased with the quality and amount of music I heard last night.

Also, funnily enough, after I said last week that I wouldn’t recognize former Project Runway contestants if I passed them in the street, who did I pass on the street but Nicholas! Granted, he’s part of the current crop of designers, so I see his mug every week, but it still cracks me up. Look at the power of my mind! Here’s another one: I wouldn’t recognize a million dollars if it landed in my bank account. Okay, universe, it’s your turn again.