They say the best is for the best...

So it turns out that I am old now and had to leave the Shawn Mullins/Dar Williams show before Dar even came onstage. Shawn played an unexpected hour and a half, and by that time it was 9:30 and I had a two hour drive (that only took me an hour and fifteen minutes...oops) and I have to be up tomorrow at 6. Blah. On the upside, Shawn was amazing. I've never seen him live before, and I love solo acoustic gigs more than almost anything.

Shawn Mullins is one of the reasons I have no patience for Jason Manns. That's probably not enough of an introduction, but really, if you don't know Shawn by now I can't help you. ;) He had that "monster hit" back in '98, but almost all of his music is better than "Lullaby" (which I still love, stfu). He opened tonight with probably my favorite from Soul's Core, "Twin Rocks, Oregon." I listened to this song so often at one point in my life that my father commented on it (which is a big deal in our house).

"Twin Rocks, Oregon" by Shawn Mullins

The biggest crowd pleaser (and one of my favorite tracks from 9th Ward Pickin' Blues) was his murder ballad, "Cold Black Heart."

"Cold Black Heart" by Shawn Mullins

Sad I didn't get to see Dar, happy to be in bed at a reasonable hour.

This review is going to sound pretty bitchy, I think. I really like Tegan & Sara, and I'm glad I went to the show. I'm just looking at a few things objectively, is all.

( Tegan & Sara, Elsinore Theater, April 17th, 2008 )

Spend the money on the cds, not the tickets.

Josh released his tour dates for this years adventure. October 22nd, Aladdin theater. *calendars*

Would love to also attend the one on October 7th in Boise, but I don't think that's feasible at the moment.

Boooo Harry Potter day of crap....HooRAY, JOSH! /nerd

Nickel Creek = still my favorite band.

The crowd last night at the Roseland = crap.

lunar8i8star and I were trying to suss out last night why audience members these days seem to think it's all right to talk through not just an opening act, but the entire concert. Hi, college chicks with the beer three rows behind us, maybe you have $30 you're able to spend just to go somewhere noisy and have shouting conversations with your friends. I do not. This is the whole reason that BARS exist. It seems to be a younger generation thing. I didn't notice that level of rudeness until I went to see Imogen Heap at the Crystal last winter. I was up in the balcony and couldn't even hear the opening act (who was actually pretty damn good) because of the noise. It's like talking in the movie theater. Bad form.

Anyway. Jon Brion opened last night. I'm not sure how I feel about him, to be honest. He's a multiple instrument musician, which I appreciate, and he plays a mean honky-tonk piano. Vocally and lyrically, I was not impressed. His best numbers were the ones he played with Chris Thile. They had a nice dueling banjos-dance contest thing going. The synchronized jumping was my favorite part.

Randomly, I suspect that Sean, like us, is too old for this shit. He was an extra special level of cranky last night. Usually he just stays over on his side (left side, his pov) of the stage, rocks his guitar. On the rare occasion he'll smile or make a little side comment. Mostly he keeps Sara & Chris from turning the show into some sort of stand-up vaudeville routine. Last night there was this giant orb of hostility around Sean. It culminated in a snarky comment towards the audience which created a long moment of awkwardness that Sara & Chris were only partially successful at tempering.

My favorite non-musical moment was when some guy in the balcony shouted "I LOVE YOU, SARA!" and Chris mock-glared our direction and said "Back off, man." (Sara/Chris is one my OTPs. Don't ask.)

The NC show itself. I have mixed feelings. It was pretty much the same set they used all last year (notable missing song: the cover of Toxic), so I was almost overly familiar with it. I think the highlight of the evening was Chris' new song, "If You're Going to Leave Me (Set Me Up With One of Your Friends)." Yeah, that was awesome. As was the Radiohead cover.

The real strength of any Nickel Creek show is the jam session. At least two or three of their instrumental songs always evolves into something great and often unexpected. The most notable example was the first NC show I ever attended: they played "Lighthouse's Tale" with two extra songs thrown in the middle: Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" followed by the most amazing cover of Coldplay's "Yellow" I've ever heard. They usually do this kind of thing with "Smoothie Song," "House of Tom Bombadil" and "Scotch & Chocolate." Last night they really didn't do any song blending, at least not to the degree to which I've become accustomed. I missed it and silently mourned its absence.

The highlights of the show for me were "Ode to a Butterfly" which is the song that truly made me fall in love with that band, and "Lighthouse's Tale" which is always the most moving and intense (the last few years they've been doing an instrumental break in it that's always breathtaking). Another high point was the slightly paired down version of "House Carpenter." In an interesting twist, they played "The Fox" at the beginning of the show, and twisted the melody just enough to make it off-putting. Nicely done, folks.

The concert was long, the encore was very short, and everyone seemed tired. I think they're very ready to take a break. While they didn't go out on a bang, it was a solid Nickel Creek performance, and I wish them the best with the end of their Farewell (for now) tour.

Girlyman is playing Mississippi Studios on April 14th, which is my mother's birthday, and I've spent the last month or so browbeating my parents into agreeing to go. There was a lot of hemming and hawing because my folks are not concert people (I wouldn't even call them music people), but tonight I played "This is Me" while cleaning up after dinner and my Mom asked if we could still get tickets. :) Heh. Yeah. A good harmony will always make her crack. In conclusion, we're going. They will enjoy themselves. Really, they just need to give these things a chance.

ETA: Through to Sunrise is currently my favorite song off their new album, but the only place I can listen to it is on myspace. Booo.....

Keep the faith, don't toe the line, and watch it through your two eyes
Leave the light still on inside and watch it through to sunrise
Leave the fight and go behind where all the stupid fear dies
Keep the light still on inside and watch it through to sunrise

ETA, pt 2: For those of you unfamiliar with Girlyman, you can listen to clips here. Seriously, Through to Sunrise. This is Me. Young James Dean. I Know Where You Are. Postcards from Mexico. The Shape I Found You In.

I'm going to fangirl here for a moment. But only a moment, as it's after midnight and I need to go to bed. Josh Ritter. I love this man more than I probably should. Tomorrow I'll put up a full show review (both for Saturday and tonight) but I just have to flail about this for now. :)

( Tonights conversation with Josh and the lovely note he wrote in my journal )

EEEEEE!!!

Front and center for Dar Williams Feb. 2nd show at the local high school. Score!

And dissonant_dream has slaughtered me with ice cream fic.

Best day ever. *basks*

I know you often find yourself asking this question:

"Is Deborah lame/awesome enough to have made, written and mailed a Christmas Card to Josh Ritter in which she requests that he play 'Lawrence, Kansas' and/or 'Bone of Song' when he comes back to the Aladdin in February?"

The answer, my friends, is yes. December makes me stupid. But it'll be awesome if he actually does it. Yes. I love Josh.

ETA: Someday Cute Waiter Guy at Big River will realize that he's meant to give me beautiful, beautiful babies. He knows my drink order and my usual dinner order. He's ridiculously good looking and can speak knowledgeably about wine with my folks. He told me I should go up to the winery by Enchanted Forest this summer and do the Grape Stomp they have every year. He shall be mine. *sigh* Seriously, Global Orgasm Day.

So here’s the full report of last night’s concert experience. It was by far one of the better one’s I’ve had.

( In which our heroine travels far to listen to good music, make new friends, and meets a hero )

ETA: The Aladdin theater has a really good write-up of Josh and his music here. Also, for those of you in the area, yeah? Saturday February 24th. Bergie might be coming. You all should come, too. I'll be buying tickets as soon as I hear one way or the other from Katie. I can pick yours up as well if you let me know (I'll make an announcement before I buy).

Everyone cross your fingers and pray that I won two free tickets to the Josh Ritter show tomorrow night.

I mean, I already have a ticket, but two free one's would be nice as well. Then I might actually be able to convince someone to go with me. :)