From Blip.fm - Keely Smith & Frank Sinatra

Keely and Frank want to know, how are YOU fixed for love? Man, I love Keely Smith. And paired with Frank? Heaven! ♫ http://blip.fm/~95x5s

From Blip.fm - Stockard Channing as Rizzo!

I'm going to see Grease in the theater tonight! It's going to be a singalong party! Jealous?? ♫ http://blip.fm/~8sviu

Wilco Live at The Joint - A Review (plus an inadvertent restaurant review)

Last Friday I had a date night with Raymond, one of my nearest and dearest. We bemoan the fact that we don’t see enough of each other so when I bought two tickets to Wilco but had no one to go with, he was quite happy to take the ticket despite not being very familiar with the band. Since the concert was on me, Raymond bought dinner. I thought we were just going to Mr. Lucky’s the "diner" in the Hard Rock Hotel, but last minute Raymond decided he wanted sushi so we hit Nobu instead. I was very pleased to be treated to high end sushi but I have to express my disappointment. DO NOT EAT AT NOBU. It is absolutely not worth the money. It’s not bad, but it’s not anything special either. When Phillip and I go to our favorite sushi spot, Kai, where the sushi chefs, Yun and Milton, who we have been loyal to for 10 years, treat us like dear friends, we can get a salmon sashimi plate with about 18 large pieces of salmon for $20. At Nobu, Raymond and I ordered the sashimi dinner which was about twelve pieces of assorted fish - some sliced into tiny "stylish" pieces - for $55. Ridiculous. We did have a hot plate of rock shrimp with a butter ponzu sauce that was excellent and their special of the night, tempura battered crab claws with a chili cilantro sauce, was also very good. I guess if I were ever to go to Nobu again, I would only order off the hot menu and skip the sushi altogether. I love Raymond and I am extremely thankful that he treated me to such an expensive meal where we were able to sit and chat and catch up and laugh. I just wish the restaurant had lived up to its reputation foodwise.

I first saw Wilco at The House of Blues in March of 2002. That show had the most incredible energy, building and building and building until by the end the crowd was in a complete frenzy and we all left the venue kind of dazed and stumbling. I saw them again in September of 2003 as the opening act for R.E.M. at the Thomas & Mack Center. That show did not have the same energy as the HOB show because most people were not there to see Wilco and, being the opening act, they played a small set and people were trickling into the venue the entire time which was distracting. So suffice to say, I had high expectations for this headlining show at The Joint. And of course Wilco were tremendous. Their new album coming out at the end of this month, Wilco (The Album), is the first time in the history of the band that the members are exactly the same as on the last album, Sky Blue Sky, and you can tell. They are happy to be playing together, they get along, and they are tight and sound terrific. There is something about Wilco crowds too: a camaraderie, an energy, a shared knowledge that we are seeing something special, that adds to the overall experience and this crowd was no exception. United we were eager, raucous, bouncy, ecstatic.

They opened with the first single off the new album, Wilco (The Song), which is a perfect opener and lets the audience know exactly what kind of band they are and what we are all in for, "Oh this is a fact, that you need to know, oh, oh, oh, oh Wilco, Wilco, Wilco, Wilco, Wilco will love you baby!" From there they immediately went into, A Shot in the Arm, one of their bigger hits off the sentimental favorite Summerteeth (still my favorite Wilco album, I think. Wait no, maybe I like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot more. But then again, Being There is pretty righteous. Oh, nevermind.) It was smart of them to play an oldie sing along song like A Shot in the Arm to remind people that yes, as a band they’ve gone through many changes, experimented with their sound endlessly, and maybe even lost some fans over the years because of it, but they know that some of us have been loyal since the beginning and so here ya go! Happy now? Yes! Yes I am!

I was surprised that over the course of the night they did five songs off the polarizing album A Ghost Is Born. I am the first to admit that I didn’t quite "get" that album, I prefer the more accessible tracks off it, and I hardly ever listen to it. Hearing the five songs played with aplomb live and met by the audience with as much reverence as anything else has made me want to revisit the album. That’s what a great live show can do: show you something about a band that you may have missed before.

Wilco had played nearly two hours when they left the stage. We of course knew an encore was coming and I expected two or three songs. They played nine!!! Opening the encore with the bouncy, nostalgic, summer anthem Heavy Metal Drummer was perfection, "Shiny shiny pants and bleach blonde hair, a double kick drum by the river in the summer, she fell in love with a drummer, another and another, she fell in love." I was also happy to hear a few more tracks off Sky Blue Sky which I think is an underrated album. Especially Hate It Here, with it's Beatles-esque riff into the chorus, was fun to hear live even though it's actually a terribly sad song. Being in Las Vegas, Jeff Tweedy early on teased the crowd saying, "You probably want to hear Casino Queen, but isn’t that too obvious?" It was fairly dismissive and I figured it was the last thing we’d hear about it. The two times I’ve seen them here they have NOT played Casino Queen and although yes, playing a song about gambling and losing all your money in the world capital of exactly that, does seem fairly obvious, I don’t think it can hurt to give your audience what it wants. So when they busted out with it as the 8th song of their encore set it was pretty exciting! "Casino Queen, my lord you're mean. I've been gambling like a fiend on your tables so green." And as they say, the crowd went wild!

Now here’s where I give a shout out to the awesomeness that is Nels Cline, the 53 year old current Wilco lead guitarist. The man can SHRED. Nels was so rocking that I could barely take my eyes off him in order to gaze adoringly at the precious Jeff Tweedy. Overall the show was incredible with a wonderful mix of songs from the band’s history, even including two songs off their Woody Guthrie collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue Vol. 1. If I had the time and the money I would absolutely follow this band on tour like they were The Grateful Freaking Dead.

And for people who are into things like this, here’s the set list which I filched off http://wilcobase.com/index.php:

1. Wilco (The Song)
2. A Shot in the Arm
3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
4. At Least That’s What You Said
5. Bull Black Nova
6. You Are My Face
7. One Wing
8. Handshake Drugs
9. Side With The Seeds
10. Box Full of Letters
11. Jesus, Etc.
12. Impossible Germany
13. California Stars
14. Sonny Feeling
15. Misunderstood
16. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
17. Hummingbird

Encore
18. Heavy Metal Drummer
19. A Magazine Called Sunset
20. You Never Know
21. Hate It Here
22. Walken
23. I’m The Man Who Loves You
24. The Late Greats
25. Casino Queen
26. Hoodoo Voodoo

I was able to take some photos of the show with my iPhone. There were lots of people taking pictures and recordings at the show and security didn’t really do anything about it, which was nice.

Firstly, our tickets! Yay!

Next, this is a picture of one of the video screens at the venue so you can see a shot of the AWESOME long haired, mustachioed, fringed-caftan-wearing, bongo player for the opening act.

Now some shots of Wilco!!

From Blip.fm - The Watson Twins

This is a nice cover. The Watson Twins doing "Just Like Heaven" - ♫ http://blip.fm/~8r96n

From Blip.fm - Audrey Hepburn

Going to see Breakfast at Tiffany's on the big screen tonight. So here's Audrey singing Moon River - ♫ http://blip.fm/~8oxg0

Neko Case at The Greek Theater - A Review

It’s time for my review of last weekend’s Neko Case concert at The Greek Theater. Firstly, the Greek is up in the hills of Griffith Park in Los Angeles and it’s a breathtaking place to see live music. You are surrounded by trees, sitting in the open air, under the moon and stars (well what of them you can see in L.A.) and it’s an intimate venue with not a bad seat in the house. It was a mild June evening and after a vodka cocktail followed by a beer I didn’t even need to put my sweater on. I love too that you can get concessions like popcorn, pretzels, nachos, red vines, etc. I wore the perfect Neko shirt that I found out shopping recently. It’s a blue t-shirt with a picture of a lion’s head framed by a heart and the word MANEATER above it! When I found that shirt I new I had to wear it to see Neko because it goes along so perfectly with her song, People Got a Lot of Nerve off her new album with it’s chorus, “I know you know that I’m a man, man, man, man, man, man eater. But still you’re surprised-prised-prised when I eat ya.” It was the right choice and I got a few compliments on it from perfect strangers at the show!

Now the music. I was going to try to remember the set list but I’m terrible at that if I don’t write it down immediately, which I didn’t, so forget it. She played a good mix of new songs and old and she played my all time favorite Neko song, I Wish I Was The Moon so I was pretty happy. It’s obvious that she and her band and backup singers have been together for a long time and enjoy one another’s company; they have great banter and excellent cadence and flow. I’m amazed by how clear voiced she is – it just rings out and reaches every nook and cranny of a room. To hear her sing in this open air environment was even more amazing because she was really allowed to let her clear voice soar. She has a very distinct style of live singing. She has what should be a patented way of moving her mouth away from the mic so that her words perfectly fade. In between the music Neko is like a comedian. She is really funny, snarky, and charming. She was often making fun of one of her guitar players (and made jibes at her own expense as well) and was insistent that members of the audience should “hook” up under the stars because the entire band had purposely sacrificed getting laid that night so we could instead. Between the music and the joking she had the audience in the palm of her hand the entire night. We would have sat there forever listening to her sing and chat and laugh and cajole. They did come out for a very nice encore where she sang Magpie to the Morning and Knock Loud.

The only complaint I had about the evening was the group of people behind us. They were a big group of friends who had gotten together for the show and it seemed that half of them were fans and half didn’t really know Neko. Unfortunately the half that didn’t know Neko drank many beers but then felt more like talking to each other than listening to Neko. It was distracting at times, but overall I did my best to ignore them. I just don’t understand though why you would go to a live show just to chat through it! If you want to chat, go stand at the bar!

So I was able to take some pictures at the show. Illicitly of course! We were warned that no picture taking or recording devices were allowed! I'm a bad girl.

First, here's a promotional picture of The Greek:


Next a shot of the opening act, Jason Little. You can really see what a beautiful evening it was:


Although she will hate that I've posted this picture, this is a self portrait of Jen and me waiting for Neko:


And although you can't see her at all, this is Neko and her band. She had a video screen up behind her with lovely animated images running throughout the show. You can see the mellow glow of the lights from the city just over the roof of the theater. It's nice.

From Blip.fm - Wilco

Seeing Wilco live tonight! When they play Vegas, they should always play Casino Queen! But they usually don't.... ♫ http://blip.fm/~8ieaq

From Blip.fm - The Psychedelic Furs

In honor of seeing this film on the big screen tonight! Long live Duckie Dale! ♫ http://blip.fm/~8e7ov

The Blue Jacaranda

In L.A. this past weekend I was amazed by the Blue Jacaranda Trees that dotted the highways and side streets and alleys and neighborhoods. Their purple flowers are really eye catching and turn L.A. into a kind of magical fairyland for the time that they are in bloom. Apparently they can be a huge pain in the ass, because the petals fall to the ground and have to be swept constantly and they leave a sticky residue too, but I adored them! The streets in Culver City where I was staying with my friend Jen are lined with them. Take a look at these pictures!

This first shot I found online and it's of the main drag in Culver City:



And this one I took myself, although it was dusk, so it's a little dark. We had dinner under this tree at Tender Greens restaurant:



Beautiful!

Watch out Cajon Pass! Here I come!

It used to be when I would drive to L.A. I would take what I call the "back way" using the Pearblossom Highway. Pearblossom, although dangerous due to its one lane each way (I will never drive it at night), is quite fun because it takes you across a windy valley where the road is littered with little shops that sell kites and wind chimes and other toys and Charlie Brown Farms where you can buy all kinds of good stuff to eat. I like to make a stop at Penney Lynn’s shop and buy a colorful pinwheel then open up my truck windows so it can cheerfully spin in the breeze. Pearblossom also has a long stretch of hilly ups and downs that if you hit them just right give you that satisfying, squirmy, stomach dropping sensation that induces in me odd nostalgia for family road trips as a kid.

I am driving to L.A. today to visit my dear friend Jen (and see Amy and Ben too!) and unfortunately my little "back way" would take me much longer since Jen lives in Culver City, so I am taking the straightforward route down the 15 to the 10. Saving time is always good, but truthfully I loathe this route because it takes me over the dreaded Cajon Pass. I hate the Cajon Pass. The downturn of this pass is so very, very steep, so that the stretch of road seems to float hundreds of feet in the air with a bottomless pit on one side of it. Most drivers fly down it at speeds that so defy logic that it all just makes me want to cry. As soon as I hit it my heart starts pounding, blood rushes to my head, my breathes shorten, I turn down the radio for concentration and grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white, all the while praying that I will live through it! And I don’t even believe in prayer! I always move over to the slow lane, but that doesn’t stop these crazy freewheeling speedsters from crawling up my ass and then passing me as soon as they get the chance! I’ve shared this irrational fear of the Cajon Pass with friends. It’s amazing how polarized the reactions can be. One friend will agree with me completely while another will laugh in my face and berate me for being that slow scaredy cat that gets in their way when they traverse the pass with glee! To make matters worse, just the other day I saw on the news that there was a 50 CAR PILEUP on the pass! No deaths, thank goodness, but still! Of course this was very early in the morning and due to early morning fog obscuring the roadway. I'll hit it just after noon so I'm sure I'll be fine. Gulp.