What We Saw from the Cheap Seats

I'll try to keep this short seeing as I've already ranted and raved about Regina Spektor in another post (but let's be honest, she's AMAZING so it's not really possible to rave enough about her...)

Here's the PLAYLIST

Like I said in the Warning Post, we got to see her a few months ago but lost the concert set list when my phone crashed. So although it was awesome, you don't get a concert re-run here. You'll just have to see her for yourself, which you should do regardless. So playlist will just be my favorites from her most recent album "What We Saw from the Cheap Seats." Oh yeah, another thing that made this concert so awesome was that as we were walking into the venue, we passed the will call ticket pick up and guess who was there with his buddie? BEN FRIKKIN FOLDS!!! Got to meet him. No picture or autograph. Shook his hand and thanked him for his music and got the H out of there before I could make an idiot of myself. That was pretty stinkin' cool.

Sadly, I didn't like this one as much as I did her last album, Far. But that's not because this one isn't good. It's awesome. It's just that I loved Far so much is all. But this one's great. You might say it's by Far her best album... tee hee. Catchy melodies, amazingly talented piano, insightful/ touching/ humorous/ interesting lyrics, fun vocal experiments, etc. Everything that makes her music so enjoyable. I think the one thing that made this not as enjoyable is the version of Ne Me Quitte Pas. It was originally released on her second album "Songs." Don't know why she re-recorded it. I heard it was beign re-released and got excited because I love this song and not enough people know about it. Then I heard it on the radio and was let down. This new version, to me, kind of sounds a little soulless and flat. Kind of like she wasn't really invested in it (I like to think it's a "That thing you do" situation where the studio was demanding she do a new version. "I want something and I want it snappy" sort of thing). At any rate, I'm including both versions and you can make up your own mind which you prefer.

But other than that, the rest of the of the album is great. Just great. And OHMYFREAKINGGOODNESS you NEED to listen to "CALL THEM BROTHERS"!!!!! I have to be careful not to listen to it because when I do, I repeat it about 6 times MINIMUM. It's one of those songs you never want to end and can't get enough of it. The harmonies switching back and forth, the slow swinging feel, the bridge where they BELT out those notes... AWESOME!! On a scale of Not to Awesome, this is about 2 times Awesome. LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN!!

Enjoy and pass it on! Comment! What's your favorite Regina song and why?

Eric Hutchinson 2: Return of the Awesome

I'm on my lunch so I'll keep it brief. Eric Rocks. There you have it.

Here's a COOL PLAYLIST
Here's his WEB SITE

We got to see him in concert a while back and it's probably one of the best shows I've ever seen. It helped that the venue was a nice place (Hawthorne theater in Portland, OR. It's great. Go there). But even if it'd been a dump it would have been awesome. His band was very talented and didn't detract or distract from the music. He was very engaging and knew how to interact with the audience and keep their attention. In short he's an entertainer. But even better than that was the MUSIC. Oh MAN, it was good. I already liked his first album and had heard snippets of upcoming songs that I was excited to hear but all my expectations were completely blown away.

The blue one's mine that he signed and the
yellow one is one of his that he gave me.
Quite the nice "pick-ture."

Unfortunately, I lost the playlist in the cell-phone crash of '12 but I at least remember that he opened with Best Days. My other personal faves are Basement (he closed with this and it was BIG. He was jumping around, he worked in the "Na na na na Na" riff... he was a friggin' live wire), Not There Yet (and worked in Ob-la-di Ob-la-da), People I Know (which he didn't play but it's still awesome. The chorus is particularly fun to blast on max volume) and In the First Place. Needless to say, we bought the whole album then and there. He even stuck around after the show to sign it and gave me one of his guitar picks!! He's a really nice guy. Totally chill. PLEASE!!! Do yourself a musical favor and listen to his stuff. See him live. He's incredible.

Check out the videos (not mine, just found good ones on Youtube) and enjoy. Pass the word on. Comment! Share! See ya! PS- Am I the only one who thinks his bass player is Corbin Bleu in disguise? (See below)