I hate to use the word "concert". I attribute that word to AC/DC live at Madison Square Garden or Jimmy Buffett at Fenway Park; you know.....shows of "epic" proportions. large groups of people and huge stage acts. In this case, this is a review of a musical performance I saw last night that wasn't as "epic" as a "concert" would be, more of an intimate show with a few hundred people rather than a few thousand. Anyway, I came up with a new rule for myself when talking about shows I have been to:

No more negative reviews.

I can't do it anymore, and I am not sure why. I think I feel like I am reliving the awful experience all over again if I write about it. And, I think I am giving "advertising" or "press" to a bad band, and as they say "any press is good press". So, no more negative reviews. If I see a bad show, I will just forget about it and move on. But if I see a good one, then I will proceed with the laudative tongue-bathing like I am about to do.

On to the review.....

So last night we headed over to "Tupelo Music Hall" in Salisbury, MA to catch the Greg Laswell/Ingrid Michaelson show. I knew very little about Laswell, other than a song I grabbed off of a holiday sampler a few months back. As for Michaelson, I saw her once at Rothbury 2008 and have heard some of her stuff, of which I enjoyed both. But really, my exposure to both had been minimal at best.

First and foremost, the venue (Tupelo Music Hall - which I had never heard of) was surprisingly awesome. Tucked away in an entertainment complex on the shores of Salisbury Beach, it is an intimate venue that has obviously been remodeled recently and it provides beautiful views of the ocean (as Laswell put it "this place sucks.....I am never coming back here again....I hate watching the beautiful waves crash against the rocks while I sing"...obviously being sarcastic). The was a general admission show, which meant lots of standing, but if you felt so inclined you could try and find a chair in the back (but with poor stage views). The bar was right next to the stage/standing area, there were a bunch of waittresses walking around taking orders, and you could even order food if you wanted to. I placed myself in the GA section, center stage, about 20 feet from the stage. There is a "Reserved Seating" section to the rear of the GA section, where you could sit on a barstool and watch, but I liked where I was and wasn't about to pay $20+ extra to sit next to scores of people my parents' age, sipping white zinfandel and prattling on about nothing. As I have mentioned in reviews before, I HATE when people talk loudly during a show. And the people in this "Reserved" section talked all night, so I was thankful for our spot. Also, the staff at this venue were incredibly friendly and accomodating. Many kudos to them. On to the music.....

Opener: Greg Laswell

As I said, I knew next to nothing about Greg Laswell before the show. I knew he was male, probably played an instrument and had a song or two on "Grey's Anatomy" or a similar show. Much to my delight, he was pretty awesome. He took the stage in his standard L.A.-Indie Rocker attire: tight-ish jeans, fitted flannel shirt that looks like it's from Goodwill but probably cost $150 at A-Life and winter hat. He immediately made a rapport with the crowd as soon as he started his first song. When he strapped his guitar on, I remarked that it looked quite small. Not a ukelele or mandolin, but just a smaller acoustic guitar. As he started playing the first song, the guitar strap came undone and it almost fell off, so he had to stop. He then said, "By the way, this is not my normal guitar. My guitar is under repair right now, so I have this very small replacement. Yes, the guitar is small, I am not HUGE. Disappointing, I know.". I guess you had to be there, but the way he said it was hilarious, and it seemed to endear him to the crowd. It went on like that in between just about every song. He told some humorous, warm stories about each song and experiences he has had, and he had the palce laughing pretty hard the whole time. This wasn't a comedy show, though, and luckily for him his music shined bright over his comedic banter.

I love singer-songwriters, I really do. I also like to review musicians using analogies and similes. So, analogically speaking (Is "analogically" a word? Maybe? It should be. Whatever, you know what I mean.), I would compare him to a peppier form of Jose Gonzalez, with a dash of Matt Kearney, two pinches of A.A. Bondy and a teaspoon of Sufjan Stevens. Since it was just him and a guitar, it was difficult to get a full sense of his songs being performed live, because the songs of his that I had (and currently now have) are studio cuts with a full band. So with no prior knowledge, I had no basis of comparison. But nevertheless, his performance was spot on and thoroughly enjoyable. It was a perfect opener, in my mind. He played well, didn't try to make it "his" show, didn't play for too long (although I don't think anyone would have minded if he kept playing) and seemed to be truly appreciative of everyone listening. He made me a fan. Which is the point, I guess.

Headliner: Ingrid Michaelson

As I mentioned I had seen Ingrid once before at Rothbury. However, I didn't get to truly appreciate her performance for a myriad of reasons (hungover/coming down from the night before, possibly still intoxicated, it was at 3 in the afternoon in the middle of the field in the hot sun, there were a ton of people there, etc.) so going into the show I didn't quite know what to expect. I had known that her popularity is on the rise and she has had a few singles on the radio recently, but that's about it. I was still looking forward to the show, no doubt, but I didn't know if I was going to be looking at my watch halfway through or begging for her to play just one more song at the end of the night. The fates would have it that the latter was true.

I am not sure what song she started off with, but I do know that halfway through the song she just started sing Lady GaGa's "Poker Face", with the band singing backing vocals as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was quite amusing while at the same time musically impressive. At that point, I was definitely intrigued with the prospects of what was to come. Unfortunately, however, I don't her songs well enough to delineate a setlist for you. With that being said, she pulled more than one ace out of her pocket of recognizable songs that provided a few highlights for me. These may not be in order of how they happened, but still....

At some point in her life, she had to have been trained in opera, due to the fact that her vocal range is vast and the high notes are high and long. Anyway, she sat down at a piano/keyboard and started talking about how she likes to take pop songs from the 90's and remix them, opera-style. Or, as she put it, making "popera". To that point, as she started playing the piano and singing, it became evident that she really meant what she said. I dare anyone to take TLC's "No Scrubs" and turn it into an opera song with a piano. Again, highly amusing and impressive.

ANother example, and probably the highlight of the night for me, was when her band left the stage and it was just her and a guitar. Without any introduction to the song, she just started playing and singing. What resulted was probably one of the best covers of Radiohead's "Creep" I have ever heard. There is something about the female voice, or maybe just hers, that adds depth and a level of emotion to it that really just takes it to another place. The place went silent and let her voice envelope everyone, like a giant musical bear hug. It was outstanding. Here is the best video I could find of her performing "Creep", but it still isn't great quality.

Since I mentioned my penchant for reviewing artists using analogies and such, here's how I would categorize Ingrid:

Melissa Etheridge and Jeff Buckley have a lovechild, say, a daughter named Zoastraphoenix.

Zoastraphoenix grows up and discoveries she likes to shack up with the same gender, so she gets married in Massachusetts to Kimya Dawson.

Through the miracles of science, Zoastraphoenix and Kimya have a child. That child is Ingrid Michaelson (they couldn't decide on whose last name the child would take, so they gave her an arbitrary one).

All in all, I am completely sold on Ingrid. Not only can she sing and play the guitar/piano, but when she is on stage, she just performs in every sense of the word. It's not just going to see an artist or band play music, she does a great job of interacting with and involving the crowd in her music. She and the band are clearly having fun on stage, and they want the audience to have fun with them. Throughout the entire show, every member of the audience was smiling, singing along and getting everything they paid for and more.

Speaking of Ingrid, she does a gorgeous cover of one of my favorite songs:

Pretty sure Ingrid is my new music crush. She's cute as hell and a phenomenal musician.

Also, I looked up "analogically". It is a word and the definition fits my use of it. I feel vindicated, somehow.

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Here's a sample playlist for you:

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Hey MOG, it was great talking to you. Hopefully it won't be another 5 months before I post again.