Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Sia, The Bird and The Bee, Greg Laswell

Let me preface this by saying that I was really tired last night. I took a short nap, but it probably did more harm than good. Still, I didn't wanna miss Greg Laswell. On 94/9 he said he would be on right at 8. I left my house at 7:40, drove downtown, found parking, and was in the venue by 8:04. Greg started moments later.

I don't really need to say anything about Greg Laswell. If you're into singer/songwriters, he's up there with the best of em. And I'm not just saying that because he and Gregory Page drank with me at my house once. He played 5 or 6 songs and the venue was already pretty full.

Let me sidebar and whine a little bit for a second. Can I just say to everyone at the show last night HEY! SHUT THE FUCK UP WHEN A MUSICIAN IS ON STAGE. I will never understand why people pay to go to shows only to raise their voices to compete with the artist on stage. The HOB has a low ceiling around 60% of the floor and the echo is horrible. This girl came up behind me and was blabbing about trying to get to the front and ohmigod i totally always get to the front and let's go to the front and who are these guys again? SHUT. UP. I also subscribe to the belief that unless you are truly a fan of a band, you should observe a courtesy rule of maintaining 6 feet from the stage, so the real fans can be up front. For me, the Charlatans UK: I'm on the rail. Imogen Heap: hang back and let her do her thing with her real fans in front. Unless the show is empty with lots of open space, then go wherever you please.

The Bird and the Tree were next. I had not heard the band but I've read some indie buzz about them and how they were not to be missed. However, I feel kinda maxed out on female vocalists right now. There's a chick singer with 3 chicks singing backup and throwing in various handclaps and harmonies. If this is your thing, you would love this band, it's just not mine. Her vocals had some jazz inflections that just really do nothing for me.

Finally Sia came on. When Simple Things came out 5? 6? years ago, I got to see Zero 7 in a KPRI private listener concert in a recording studio. There was some miscommunication, so a lot of people who were there had to leave before Zero 7 played, so there were probably a dozen of us in the room when they played, and I was 3 feet from Sia as she sang Destiny and Distractions and a few other songs. It was amazing. Now, however, while I still like Zero 7 and Sia, at times the loooouuuyyyyyyuuuuvvvvvveeee yeeeewwwwwwww stuff goes a little too much. I'm not, after all, a fan of Alicia Keys and the like. Still, Sia performed and I enjoyed myself. After 7 or 8 songs, some of her solo stuff, some Zero 7 stuff, I gave myself permission to leave after Breathe Me. She is a bit odd at times, singing these painfully sad songs and then having this non stop shit-eating grin in between songs. Either she really loves performing or she's being insincere. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and trust the first, judging by her silly new revamped website. In leading into Breathe Me she explained that it was ok to have a bit of a cry, as she certainly did when she wrote it, but now she's not where she was when she wrote it so it only makes her cry a little, but assuring the audience that if we were needing a bit of a cry in our lives anyway, that if this song helped us release it, that would be ok. And I almost did. The song still kills me like it did on the series finale of Six Feet Under.

I left after that song, exhausted from Monday and at the thought of how long today is going to be, so I can't report on the last of the set. But I can say I made it home in time for the Daily Show/Colbert Report Midterm Midtacular and was able to sleep well with the election results.

Tonight I'll be heading to the House of Blues after work, then to the Hard Rock to see Ray LaMontagne. Whether or not I make it to the Sports Club for Fifty on Their Heels will depend on if I can get out of Ray, go home and let the dog out, and make it back there by 11. My guess it that's not going to happen. But you never know...

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